Rob's Blog

It's a Dog's Life....

Speaking of dogs, I read an interesting book, "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle". It was an Oprah book, so predictably a little sappy, but it was impossible to put down, and there were some really great sections on dogs, fictional though they might have been. Then of course, there's Philip Roth's book,"The Humbling", yet another treatise on sex and death with which he's been obsessed in his last several books, as opposed to some of his earlier books where he was only obsessed by the former. Another good read, "What The Dog Saw", by Malcom Gladwell. Probably my favorite of all three.

Pete Kennedy recently performed live at Trumpets, in Montclair, NJ, for an Outpost in the Burbs benefit performance, celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock. See how many 60s songs you can recognize!

El Kabong! You Tube Playlist

What you've all been waiting for, I'm sure. El Kabong Live! - The Incomplete Collection.

 

 

El Kabong! Plays at Montclair Center Stage

The alt rock band I'm in, El Kabong! played out on one of the few nice evenings this summer at the Montclair Center Stage, run by the Church Street Kitchen.  "I Ain't Ever Satisfied" is a Steve Earle cover and my first lead vocal, since I've been playing bass! "Back To Me" features Carrie Cantor on lead vocals and is a Kathleen Edwards cover.

A trip to Yankee Stadium

 

Once you get over the high prices and long lines, the new stadium is quite impressive. Very spacious and open, though the lines to get into the Yankee Museum and Monument Park were huge, even 1 1/2 hours before the game. I don't know what time you need to get there to do those things. Anyway, it was all worth it, as I had a nice day with my son Zach, and the Yankees won a very well pitched game, 4-1. Both starting pitchers (C.C. Sabathia for the Yankees, Matt Garza for the Tampa Bay Rays), pitched 7 strong innings, giving up one run apiece, but the Yankees clobbered the Rays bullpen for 3 runs in the 8th. And the Yankee bullpen has recently been flawless, as they were today.

 

The Yankees Win! Thuuuuuuuuh  Yankees Win!!!!!!

Continue reading for more pictures.

In Search of the Perfect Quilt

Or, searching for Intercourse in Pennsylvania. Yes, there really is such a town in the Pennsylavania Amish country, southwest of Blue Ball and north of Paradise. What's with these names?! Anyway, it was a struggle to get there - every main road in Pennsylania seemed to be under construction, turning an already long 3-hour drive into a 4 1/2 hour one. I'm officially avoiding that state. Anyway, my wife and I finally got to Intercourse (really), and looked for quilts there, and in nearby Ronks. Linda was on a mission to replace our very worn out one, circa 1930, and was having a really hard time. None of them "spoke" to her, and they seemed either uninspired or overpriced, or both. My suggestion to just buy a blanket and be done with it didn't do much to help. Finally, looking through a local paper, we found some out of the way places, that were private residences/farms. These quilts were much nicer and much more reasonable than the ones we saw in town. So, if you want to save yourselves some time, we'd recommend Country Lane Quilts, 221 South Groffdale Road, in Leola, PA (where we bought ours) and Esh's Handmade Quilts on Route 340 1 mile east of Intercouse. (Is that like East of Eden?) The one place in town that was pretty good was Village Quilts, in Intercourse. It was really late by the time we finished our sojourn, and headed towards Lancaster for dinner. We had no idea where to go, but wandered around the town and made a great find. A really nice restaurant called The Press Room, complete with jazz trio. Good food and drink after a long day. We finished at 10, and with minimal traffic and avoiding the nightmare roads we took getting there, it still took us 3 hours to get home. Oh, and the quilt. It's beautiful!

This is IT! (Wedding ring pattern)

Our little town

The Press Room, Lancaster, PA

Depressive Progressives

My wife, who is a social worker and adamant Democratic supporter, recently made this observation in light of the contentious debate around health care reform. When facing obstacles and frustrations, the Democrats and Liberals tend to wring their hands, blame each other and blame themselves. The Republicans tend to lash out, blame those with whom they disagree, and speak in one voice, right or wrong. Do they really believe that Obama wants to euthanize seniors? Do they really believe that government run health care is an anathema, in the face of the relative efficiency of Medicare, which seniors are loathe to have changed, and the VA health plan? And is he really a Muslim foreigner who wants to turn the U.S. into a socialist republic? Prior to the election I met an otherwise intelligent woman on a plane who was utterly convinced that Obama, if elected, would insist on swearing in on the Koran, not the Bible. Really! In psychological terms, according to my wife, the Democrats suffer from neurosis, whereas the Republicans have a personality disorder. A neurotic blames himself when things go wrong, and is subject to second-guessing and self-recrimination. Someone with a personality disorder sees nothing wrong with himself, lacks introspection, and thinks any problem is caused by "the other guy". Perhaps both parties should undergo some psychotherapy to work out some of these issues, although it's unclear whether that would be covered under the present health care system.

Zach Halper at Open Mic

Zach playing at open mic at the Church Street Kitchen in Montclair, NJ. He plays Vienna by Bill Joel, and Ice Cream Man byTom Waits. He doesn't play Free Bird!

Dogs just want to have fun!

Really needs the Cyndi Lauper music, but I'll have to do with just growls and yelps for now.

You never know......

Who you might meet while waiting for a plane in Chicago!

MISS TEEN NEW JERSEY! Yaaay!