Lights...Camera...Christmas!

Here are some photos from our annual drive to look at Christmas lights.







This guy really goes all out:







This place is like a mansion:





Here is the tree in the Stoneham town square. Bill made us park and get out. We had to walk all the way across the square in squishy snow. My shoes were soaked!



Here is the band gazebo in the Stoneham town square, with the town hall behind it:



Here is me waving at you from the band gazebo:

Merry Christmas!!!

The Weekly Roundup

First up tonight, a little self-deprecating humor:

And now, on to more serious topics:

Next, Please
Gates warns of Al Qaeda shift
They’re getting bored of terrorizing the same boring old Afgahnis and have now turned their attention to the chaos that is Pakistan. They're working their way across the middle east while we're all focused on Iraq.
(Los Angeles Times)

Sick Joke?
Giuliani keen to fight back after reverses
Is it just me, or is Rudy Giuliani’s campaign becoming a joke? Scandals, corruption, and now illness. And this has been a good week! Take three aspirin, get some new campaign advisors, and call me in the morning.
(Financial Times)

Want To Know Why This Man Is Smiling?
Goldman Awards Blankfein a Record $67.9 Million Bonus
Disappointed with your year-end bonus? You obviously haven’t screwed enough middle class home-mortgage holders out of their hard earned money. Mark this under “room for improvement” on your 2007 performance review.
(Bloomberg)

This Can’t Be Good
North Korean Tubes Found to Be Contaminated With Uranium Traces
They claim that they’ve never had an enriched uranium program, and after this, they got some “’splainin’” to do? We need to send these US arms control officers to better schools so they learn how to talk good. But then, if North Korea has the bomb, it won’t matter for too much longer, now will it?
(FOX)

You Take My Wife…Please!
Save the World: Elect My Wife
Let’s see, this republic has survived Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, James K. Polk, James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and, most recently, at least seven years of George W. Bush, yet the whole thing will go to pieces if we don’t elect Hillary??? Bill, Bill, Bill. You’re so transparent. If there is anyone out there who doesn’t know exactly why Mr. Clinton wants his wife to win the White House, let me know, and I'll "'splain'" it to ya!
(Washington Post)

Falling Down
UNANIMOUS
The New Orleans City Council voted to demolish upwards of 4,500 project units amid much protest. What they are protesting I really can’t fathom. The buildings sat in feet and feet of muck and guck for weeks and are condemned, people! New Orleans absolutely cannot support people who do nothing but sponge off the government (read: other people’s money). New Orleans needs to build infrastructure to support people who are coming to work and help in the rebuilding. My friend Mark wrote a great letter to the New York Times about this issue. Let me know if you want to read it and I’ll send it to you.
(Times-Picayune)

Flaming Wood
Fire damages Cheney's ceremonial offices near White House
There’s this scene in The West Wing where Josh and Sam set off the smoke alarms trying to light a fire in the Mural Room fireplace. The president is trying to get a precious few hours’ sleep, but of course has to be awoken. Charlie calls him and says, “Mr. President, you know how you told me not to wake you unless the building was on fire…?”
(Boston Globe)

Hurling Rock
Big asteroid on collision course with Mars
Those little green men better get themselves underground, pretty quick.
(TG Daily)

Papelbon’s Pesky Pooch
Jonathan Papelbon's dog takes a bite of World Series history
Get real now, Jonny: Your third grade math teacher didn’t buy it, and I’m not buying it either.
(The Canadian Press)

Unplanned Parenthood
Spears' Baby Daddy Reportedly Ready to Settle Down
The uproar over Jamie Lynn Spears and her pregnancy is puzzling to me. Don’t people realize that 16 year olds get pregnant every day in this country? Wake up people! Why do we care so much about THIS pregnancy? Think about it.
(ABC News)

Groan
A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but don't start anything."

Going Back

I’ve been a bit distracted lately and never got to write about my trip home. It was a nice week and I got to see everybody so I had a good time.

Golden Anniversary
Happy anniversary to Bridge House. The 50th anniversary dinner was held the night that I arrived at the Tea Room at the Audubon Zoo. It was nice; the food was good; I got to catch up with all of my friends; and I got to meet John Larroquette, who was the guest speaker.

I usually couldn’t care less about meeting celebrities, but I was happy to meet John. I’ve been a fan of his since his Night Court days, and I’m a big fan of Boston Legal and I like his new character on there. He is exactly as you would imagine him in person: dry, quick wit, personable, intelligent, and very open. He was quite candid as he described his years of alcohol and drug abuse. Once, he was in L.A., stumbling down the street, and he blacked out. The next thing he remembers is being in New Orleans. He doesn’t remember deciding to go to New Orleans, going to the airport, buying a ticket, or flying. He almost lost his family and a budding career, but one night he was sitting with a friend about to snort some cocaine and he thought, “What the hell am I doing?” He excused himself, got up, went home to his wife, and has never looked back. God bless him. He was quite an inspiration to all of us there, and particularly to the clients of Bridge House who are working towards recovery.

Bub, Merry, John, and me

Party Time
On Sunday I went over to the Clements for Matty and Rachel’s birthday party. With the threat of bad weather, Brian and Becca decided to cancel the big Jupiter jump thing and move the party to this indoor jump place at the mall. But before the party a bunch of us met at their house to watch the Saints game. I got to take a picture with the kids. Isn’t Rachel’s Saints cheerleader outfit the cutest thing you ever saw in your life?

Jake, Matt, me, Rachel & Karl

The party was fun but the place was run by a bunch of high school students who aren’t very conscientious about their jobs, but at least the kids had fun, so that was nice.

Paying Up
Since I called him out in my blog, I feel that I should let you know that Mark is definitely a man of principle. He took me to Lakeview Harbor, a place that has the same kind of burgers as Port of Call, and paid off his bet. Now, I get to call him out a second time! Mark, your pathetic little team lost again, and I expect my second burger of the 2007 season when I visit in January. Sorry.

Me, Sandy & Mark

Visiting
I also visited with Tommy, Chanel, Dan & Karen and the girls, Jeanie, and of course Mom, Ka, Robby and Mike. I got some Mexican food while I was there. I took my nephew Zach and niece Erin out for dinner and they wanted to go to a Mexican place near their house. That was good because I rarely get Mexican food at home; Bill isn’t a big fan.

Me, Zach, & Erin

Culmination
Friday night, the night before I was leaving, was Bubby’s birthday so of course we had to celebrate. We all got together and went to Drago’s for some good oysters and good food. We all had a blast, and I’m sure Bubby would have had a great time if he would have been there. Unfortunately, Bub decided to go to Disney World the week after Thanksgiving so he had to miss his celebratory birthday dinner. Oh, well. We had fun celebrating his birthday anyhow, and I was able to take over his condo for the week and have a nice quiet place to stay for free!

Jakie riding his bike

Karl riding his bike

Matty riding his bike

I’ve got a great group of friends and it was nice to go out and relax with all of them on my last night in town. I got to the Clements a bit early and was able to hang out with the kids before they left for their babysitters.

So, all in all, a great trip.

The Krewe at Drago's

Rosie, Flea, Brad, Christie, Brian, Becca, Wendy, me, Walter (Nekkid Foot)

Groan
Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.

Shopping
If you’ve known me for awhile, you’re not going to believe this, but I’m finished with my Christmas shopping! Unbelievable, isn’t it? But it’s not all motivation; the internet helped a lot this year. It’s so easy to buy online; it’s a godsend for procrastinators like me!

Sean's Message

This is from the Facebook group RIP Sean O'Hara. Sean and I talked about all of this and his feelings of being put here for a purpose, etc. when he visited me in August. Not only was he smart and loving and strong and charming, he was also very in touch with his spiritual side.

Read Sean's thoughts. I hope that some of you out there can find meaning in his words. I've posted it exactly as it is posted on the group, which I believe is how he originally posted it.

Quoted from RIP Sean O'Hara:

Sean O'Hara passed away on Dec. 2, 2007. He is loved and missed greatly. He would've done anything for his friends and family, and he loved life and lived it to the fullest.

We sleep knowing he is in Heaven and we'll see him again one day.

Note posted by Sean O’Hara
8:44 PM, Monday October 2, 2006
I WROTE THIS ONE MORNING
it's 3:30 in the morning right now and i have this feeling that i have so often.... i love the Lord and he is filling my body and soul and heart and mind with something that cant even be put into words...i was born on july 7, 1986... the perfect date to turn 21 on 07-07-07... in the bible that is stated as being the number of holiness... or God's number... weird i know... but get this... i was born on strange circumstances... i was born exactly 9 months to the day after my brother... my brother that died shortly after he was born of sids(sudden infant death syndrome) he stopped breathing in his sleep... to this day my mother tells me that she can't for the life of her remember getting intimate with my father in the period of they wouldve had to for me to be conceived and born on the day in which i was... spooky... then after that i was born with a disease in my stomach... i couldnt hold food and the doctors couldnt fix it... the acids in my stomach was too strong to allow my body to digest anything... even water... the doctor said that he would be surprised if i lived past a month... but im here typing right now... and im here with a message... God loves YOU... im not sure what greatness he has waiting on me... it may be a shadow in your eyes but to me and hopefully many others its a ray of sunlight in such a dark world... i hope this message is read by many because i want everyone to know that there is someone out there that will help you and be there for you and care if you make it through your trials and tribulations... if you dont believe that God is there then believe that i'm here... im here through his grace and if you need it... just ask someone... its a great feeling to have, you're loved... for no reason... so take this message and do what you will with it... but know i sent it with a purpose and that was to help someone out.

Out of Order

Cycles
Life is a series of cycles. You are born into a family and a world with everyone being older than you. When you’re young, that’s all you know. These people. People you didn’t ask for, people that you would probably never know except that you were randomly thrown in with them. People who bear you, love you, mentor you, mold you. They make you into the kind of person that you turn out to be.

Pretty soon, the cycles start. You go to school in the fall. You go on vacation in the summer. Maybe you join sports, dance ballet, play an instrument, become a Scout. Whether you do one or all of these, they all involve cycles (championships, recitals, camping trips, etc.). Then you grow up some more, and high school becomes another cycle. You hit puberty, start becoming the adult that you will one day grow into, make meaningful friendships, have your first relationships, start doing grown up type things like dances, parties, competitions, etc. High school is a never-ending series of cycles.

Then you graduate high school and go to college, trade school, or to work. You spend a few years trying to find yourself, being wild, then coupling up, settling down, and hopefully figure everything out to have a happy life.

At some point along this timeline, earlier for some than for others, you notice another cycle. The people that were around when you were born, well, they’re not going to be around forever. People die. It’s a fact of life that you have to accept whether you want to or not.

Wait Your Turn
Finally you realize that you’re powerless over this fact and start to come to terms with the fact that by the time it’s your time, your parents, your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, all of their friends, and some of your cousins and siblings will be gone. It’s the way it should be, the “circle of life” (with apologies to Elton John and Tim Rice) if you will.

But as these people begin to drop off, something else happens. They are replaced by other people. Younger people. Nieces, nephews, the children of friends, our own children. Younger cousins and friends. They’ll all be around until we’re gone, so there will be someone around to mourn for us.

Curve Ball
Every one in awhile, though, life throws you a curve ball that completely throws the cycle off track. You don’t expect someone born 17 years after you to be gone before you, especially when that person is only 21.

Early Monday morning I got a call that has devastated my life. My precious nephew Sean is dead at the age of only 21. He was a student at Ole Miss, and his girlfriend went to his apartment and found him lying on his bed unconscious. They were unable to revive him.

An autopsy was performed, but I don’t know the results yet. I guess I will find out in Memphis at the services.

Changing Roles
Relationships have cycles, similar to life itself. When Sean was a kid, I was basically his uncle, spending time playing with him, taking care of him, giving him advice about things, occasionally disciplining him. I loved him from the very first time I held him in my arms, a familial love, a protective love. I wanted to make sure that no one or nothing ever harmed my little Seaner, and that he would grow up to be a healthy, happy, prosperous individual.

Time marches on, though, and before you know it I’m looking up at this “kid” who’s got a good 2 inches on me, and he’s telling me that he’s starting Ole Miss, and we’re actually discussing politics, religion, relationships, feelings, adult stuff. I actually had a mature adult friendship with my 21-year old nephew. It was great.

Confidential to Sean
My dearest Sean, my heart is broken. I enjoyed being your uncle when you were a kid almost as much as I enjoyed being your friend as an adult. Thank you for visiting me in Boston over the summer. I will forever cherish our times together lounging and grilling by the backyard pool, eating in the North End, drinking at the Bull & Finch, channeling our inner children at Six Flags and especially going together to the Red Sox game. Just remembering the smile on your face the entire time we were in Fenway Park gives me a moment of joy even in this time of devastation.

You grew into a fine young man whom I not only loved dearly but also admired greatly. I will remember you always. Kiss Paw Paw and James Michael in heaven for me.

Love always, til again we meet,
Uncle Dennis

Tis The Season

Here are some photos of our Thanksgiving exploits.



Bill and Michael hard at work on the stuffing.

They do three kinds: meat stuffing, Portuguese stuffing, and Italian stuffing. The meat stuffing is by far the most popular. It is very tasty and almost a meal in itself.


Jessica posing with the Fortissimo wine. It is a very good breakfast wine!


Bill is enjoying his breakfast wine.


Michael taking a break from cooking.


Mikey about to enjoy some meat stuffing. If he looks a little pale and red-eyed, it's only because some guy named "Yurksis" had a party the night before and Mikey hadn't fully recovered yet. hehe!


The meat stuffing.


Jess and Sarah posing with the breakfast wine as Michael pours himself a little taste.


Michael and Dev discussing some important Thanksgiving topics.


Me with my breakfast wine (note I'm drinking out of a Red Sox lager glass)


The stuffing on the stove (yum!)


Matt enjoying some stuffing (yes, he went to the "Yurksis" party too)

Later, that same day...

Bill loves those yams.


Our spread



The rest of our spread.

It was an excellent Thanksgiving. And if you thought you noticed our dining room windows open, it's because they were. It got into the upper 60s on Thanksgiving Day in Stoneham, and with the oven and the burners going it got very hot in the house.

We had a great meal, great to have Dev as has become our Thanksgiving tradition, and great to spend the day with Bill's family whom I consider to be my family also.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

It was great today to look out the window and see this. It’s not much, but it is snow, and that’s a good thing! I always thought that it had to be freezing to snow, but apparently not. It never got below freezing today; that must be why the snow didn’t stick. It’s not piled up, and there’s no need for the plows.

I did have to go out driving in it to pick up a few final things for Thanksgiving. Bill & I went shopping last night and got most everything for the dinner, the turkey, ingredients for the stuffing, side dish stuff, wine, and everything else. But we didn’t get ground beef for the stuffing because it was wicked expensive, and Bill forgot bananas, and we didn’t get egg nog, and we needed another can of cut green beans for the casserole, so I went out to Foodmaster today, then over to Bill’s store to drop off the ground beef.

Gratitude
So here’s what I’m doing for Thanksgiving. Tomorrow I’m working ½ day then going to pick up Dev from the airport around 7. We’ll head over to Bill’s brother Michael’s house after where Bill and Michael will be cooking three different kinds of stuffing. They make some great stuffing. We’ll also be drinking a jug of Fortissimo wine. Nothing but the best for Thanksgiving!

Thursday morning we’ll wake up and go over to Bill’s other brother Frank’s house for some pre-partying. Frank and his wife Anne have a big dinner with a bunch of family, and we stop by for some appetizers and cocktails. Then we’ll head over to Michael’s for more Fortissimo and stuffing, then head back to the house in the afternoon for our Thanksgiving feast. Frank and his family and Michael and his family always say that we are welcome to their dinners, but we like doing our thing, especially with Dev over, we enjoy having our own little dinner. We let everyone know that we have tons of food, so they are all welcome to come over for a second Thanksgiving dinner. They eat earlier in the day and our feast isn’t ready until around 5. Last year Bill’s nephew Matt came by “just to hang” because he was full from dinner, so he only had two platefulls of food. I guess if he were hungry he would have had five plates of food!! We’ll see who makes it over this year for the post-feast feast.

Friday Bill will have to work at the store so Dev and I will do Lord knows what, then head into Cambridge later in the day to meet an old high school friend of mine for drinks. That will be nice.

Flight Plan
Saturday I’ll get up early and head to the airport to spend a week in New Orleans. I promised my godson that I would be in town for his birthday party so I’m keeping my promise. His party is Sunday, and there’s a 50th anniversary dinner for Bridge House on Saturday night, so hopefully there will be no delays getting to New Orleans. I’ll get to see Mom and Ka and my friends while I’m in town, so I’m looking forward to the trip.

Etc.
Our annual Christmas bash is set for December 8th, and it’s looking to be a good one! If you’re in the Boston area then, stop on by.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Weekly Roundup

Counting Beans
US Congress Begins Break Amid Funding Battles
They’re all going home to their families to celebrate a solemn occasion of thanks and to reflect how fortunate we all are to be Americans, then they’ll be back to gut-punching each other over whose district gets more pork than the others.
(VOA News)

Gas Blues
OPEC Gathering Finds High Oil Prices More Worrisome Than Welcome
So who exactly DOES benefit when oil prices are high? And if the answer is, “no one,” then let’s bring ‘em down!
(New York Times)

The Friendly Skies
US military airspace opened to ease Thanksgiving traffic jam
I’ll admit that there are very few times I’m loving my president, but if this gets me to New Orleans next Saturday with less of a headache than I’m anticipating, maybe a positive Bush thought might float through my head for a minute or so.
(MSNBC)

Tree Terror
Worst Forest Disaster in U.S. History
Another effect of Katrina that I never imagined, the fact that over 320 million trees have fallen and are releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere almost double that of what is absorbed in a year will actually fuel future weather events.
(ABC News)

Get That Cough Away From Me
Ten Die From New Cold Virus Strain in US
As if there isn’t enough to worry about during cold and flu season.
(ScienceMode)

Jailhouse Confession
Lohan does 84 minutes in jail
This might seem like a miscarriage of justice, but Lindsay found God while behind bars, completed prison education programs, became a mentor for younger inmates, and got some cool prison tats!
(Los Angeles Times)

Demolition Men

So what happened was, the ceiling fell down.


Yep, I know, ceilings aren't supposed to fall down, but there it was. Thursday night, Bill asks me if I'd seen the porch. When I replied that I hadn't seen anything unusual, he took me out there to show me what happened. We'd had some rain earlier in the week and apparently, the roof is leaking and it soaked the insulation, then it all came crashing down.


We've never been sure what we're doing to this room anyway. We've talked about building a deck there ever since I moved here two years ago, and this room just kind of hanging off the back of the house has been a part of it that we weren't sure of.


There was a lot of crap stored back there that we moved into the garage or into the house, then today Bill's nephew Mikey and brother Michael came over to help us tear down all the ceiling and the walls. Now Bill just has to figure out what the hell we're going to do, if the whole thing is going to come down or if we're going to keep the room there in some form or another. It's just so tough to get these Muolos to formulate a plan and stick to it.

Anyhow, here's the room after we got done with it:

The Weekly Roundup

Let Freedom Ring
Pakistani Leader Blocks Protests, Creating Impasse
Democracy is fine as long as everybody does what I say. Hmm. Let’s call this one “The GW Bush Theory of Government.”
(New York Times)

What a Drip
Mukasey Confirmed as Bush's Third Attorney General
He doesn’t know if waterboarding is torture or not. I have a suggestion. Let’s subject him to the procedure, then afterwards he can let us know what he thinks. This was probably just a case of total dispassion on the part of the Senate. The guy’s only going to serve 15 months, at most, and if they hadn’t confirmed him, Bush would just have appointed him “interim” and that would be that.
(Bloomberg)

Black Birds
Skimmers at work removing oil from bay and ocean
One of the drawbacks of these wonderful combustion engines that are in all of our cars is that they need oil. And, occasionally, oil turns our waterways into wasteways. Trash the oil companies if you want, but then I’d better see you riding your bike to work tomorrow.
(San Francisco Chronicle)

Checks and Balances
US Congress Overrides Bush Veto For the First Time
It’s about time someone showed this guy who’s in charge. He’s been denying the gulf south money for coastal repairs for far too long. What does he think is going to happen? Everyone will just keep moving north until we’re all living in the Dakotas?
(VOA News)

I Hate When This Happens
Fall Into Wood Chipper Kills Tree Trimmer
Ouch!
(CBS News)

A Bunch of Bull
Energy Drinks Linked To Heart Risk, Study
Well, I guess I’d better stay away from these things.
(Medical News Today)

Funny Beads
500,000 Chinese-made toys recalled over date-rape drug link
Teasing toddler been making eyes at you and not following through? Just play Bindeez with them!
(Guardian Unlimited)

My Stars!
Cosmic 'Bullets' Traced To Supermassive Black Holes
Space has always been a mystery, but it’s interesting to read when they discover new information about what’s out there. One day, I’d love to find somebody who can explain what all this means in plain English.
(FOX News)

Orwell Would Be Proud
Whistleblower: AT&T Maintained a 'Secret Room' for the NSA
Think about who might be watching next time you’re browsing the galleries at bustybabesdohorsehungstuds.com
(BetaNews)

Fanatic
Conan's "Most Dangerous Fan" Found Fit for Trial
This priest’s last assignment was at St. Patrick’s here in Stoneham where I live, and Bill actually knows him. Weird, huh? Who’d want to stalk Conan O’Brien? Jay Leno I could understand…
(E! News)

Taking A Bite

I Love New York!
No, I’m not about to go try out for that tacky show on VH1 with that tacky woman with those tacky guys whose biceps are three times the size of their brains. I mean, I really love New York. I was there over the weekend with Brian. It was crowded; it was dirty; people were rude. I loved it!

The Rescue
Friday I drove down and picked up Brian from JFK. Mapquest told me that it would take exactly 4 hours from my house in Stoneham to JFK airport but what the hell do they know? It took me more like 4 hours and 14 minutes. Traffic was insane at some points but I still like the drive down. I’ve done it three times now and never the same route because I’m never going to the same place. The most pleasant drive was when I went to meet Paul when he was staying on Long Island after Katrina. I got to take the ferry from New London, and that was the least stressful trip of all.

Anyhow, I get to JFK and there’s Bub with his Dunkin Donuts coffee (no lid, full to the brim with me about to drive in New York traffic, the boy will never learn) and off we go. Our hosts were Darrin and Kelvin who live in a great neighborhood in Brooklyn with free parking and two blocks from the subway. Because of some incredibly acrobatic moves, Brian never spilled a drop of coffee in my car.

Our hosts

The Accommodation
Darrin and Kelvin live in a third-floor walkup (wow, how New York am I?), and their neighbor Dave gave us the keys to get in since the guys were both at work. Dave’s daughter has to be the cutest thing I saw in New York. When Dave’s wife opened the door, their little girl came running to the door to welcome us to New York. She was just the sweetest thing.

So, we drop our gear and take off for the big city. Kelvin was able to take off from work and meet us near Times Square, then we grabbed some pizza from a place called Bravo and then met Darrin. We went to Rockefeller Center and walked all around that area past Radio City Music Hall, did some shopping, stopped by the Museum of Modern Art (Kelvin had a different name for it), and finally ended up by Union Square where we had some beers and nachos and then met up with some co-workers of Darrin.

The Chat N Chew
After a few cocktails, Kelvin headed home; his workday is 5:30am-1:30pm so he’s up at 3:30 every weekday morning. I could never do that. Darrin, Brian and I headed over to the Chat ‘n Chew for some grub & gabbing. The Chat ‘n Chew is a dive with some great comfort food.

After dinner we were all exhausted so we headed back to Brooklyn and crashed.

The First Noel
Saturday morning Brian and Darrin got up and went for a walk around some park, whatever. No way I’m getting up and doing any kind of physical activity on Saturday morning. Apparently Kelvin feels the same way because he got up and next you know, the apartment is filled with the beautiful scents of Saturday morning brunch. If I ever opened a diner I would tell Kelvin to name his price to leave the marketing research industry and join up. It would positively be worth it.

After brunch Bub and I took off for a cruise around the isle of Manhattan. I’d been on this particular cruise before and it’s pretty cool. It was cold and very windy thanks to Tropical Bitch Noel who was passing through, but not too much rain. Most of the rain fell in Stoneham, MA, where I live. But seeing as I wasn’t where I live that day, the rain didn’t fall on me!

Bub in front of a big clock

Bub in front of The Statue of Liberty

Me in front of The Statue of Liberty

The Tigers
After the cruise we headed back to Times Square to grab a bus and meet Darrin and Kelvin to go watch the Tigers take on the Crimson Tide. By the time we finally made it down to Houston Street (pronounced HOW-stun, I know these yankees!) Kelvin had had enough and headed home, but Darrin guided us to a great sports bar called Phebe’s where we had a couple hours before we had to be at the play we were seeing. We watched the game go back and forth, back and forth, and finally when we left the Tigers were getting trounced. Oh, well, we figured, another loss for LSU.

Darrin’s friend Mindy, whom we had gone drinking with the night before, met us at Phebe’s along with her fiancée Preshant. Mindy was very sweet and a lot of fun. I liked Preshant, too, he’s a great guy and there’s really nothing negative I can say about him, except that he’s an idiot. And I’m not the only one that thought that; Mindy agreed with me. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt; I interrogated him several times using at least three different techniques, but it became clear to me that he was not on any type of mind-altering substances. This guy honestly believed that the Colts were going to beat the Patriots in the battle of the undefeateds on Sunday. Oh, how misguided these Indy fans can be! He had all these stats and examples and rationalizations and situational assessments and predictions. Mindy, who is from New England, and I just kept rolling our eyes at each other and let him spout off. Mindy and I shared several premature victorious high-fives, just pitying poor, sweet, misguided Preshant.

The Phebe's Krewe

The Line
After Phebe’s, we met Kelvin at an off-off-off-off-off-off Broadway theatre, the 13th Street Repertory Theatre and saw Line, which they proudly state has been running for 33 years. Wow. The plot was interesting, but the actors were absolutely horrible. It was one of those things were you could “tell” they were acting. That’s the first sign of a bad show. Then they kept forgetting lines, repeating the same things over and over. “You bitch” was a favorite that they would say when they forgot their lines.

Darrin had a different view. He enjoyed the production, because he saw the excellence in the story and the dialogue. I just saw the flaws in the production elements. I guess that’s what you get when you spend too much time on the board of a regional theater and have to hear from the artistic director all of the little nuances that go into producing a show.

The Fur Flies
Kelvin and Darrin left us after the show to go to a fur party. I’m not exactly sure what that is, but off they went. Bub and I stopped at the liquor store and then headed back home to Brooklyn, where lo and behold we discovered that the Tigers had staged another major comeback in the fourth quarter to win the game. How incredible was that? I honestly didn’t believe Brian when he told me, but sure enough I went on the internet and verified it.

Darrin and Kelvin came home a little after 1:00 and we sat up and talked for awhile. They’re a really interesting couple, and a lot of fun.

The Departed
We woke up early Sunday morning, and after another delicious brunch prepared by Mr. Kelvin, Brian and I made our way back to JFK and then I headed back to Boston.

Brian with our gracious hosts

What a great whirlwind trip. Great to see Bub again as usual and I made a few new friends, of which you can never have enough. I invited Darrin and Kelvin up to Boston and I hope they take me up on it sometime soon.