Mondo Marco

Winter Bike Ride

2012-01-21T15:16:00.006-05:00

The sun hasn't been doing much shining lately, but I've been trying to get some bike miles in anyway. This branch empties into the Tuckasegee.

This stretch, along the Tuckasegee, is one of my favorites to bike down.

Parris Cemetery

This abandoned church used to be nearly invisible from the road, swallowed up as it was by the jungle. But somebody cleared that out. No longer in use, but not to worry, the are hundreds of other ones.

Marco, Live at Meadow Brook!

2012-01-04T12:03:00.006-05:00

The geezers didn't seem too enthusiastic about my version of "Alfie" or my Ellington medley ...

but they loved "Oh When the saints go marching in!"

Mr. Nice Sax. The sweater makes me look like my name should be "Chip."

Sledding

2012-01-03T11:21:00.005-05:00

Pure Michigan

Before the first run

The issue, descending

Sled Man

Mancelona Walk

2012-01-02T15:14:00.010-05:00

Hemmingway silhouettes. They may call it Organica now, but to me it will always be D&B Discount.

My brother's favorite weapon: the double-pronged icicle

SIgn on the door of Mancelona Lanes, where I used to bowl, play pinball, pool, breathe second-hand smoke, and drop coins into the jukebox.

Freightliner

Milkweed pods

Sumac, I believe, over by Pump House Pond

A little house on the other side of town. Compare this to a McMansion!

Christmas Recital

2011-12-20T10:23:00.000-05:00

Beans and Greens

2011-10-20T11:26:00.012-04:00

This dish is inspired by an Asturian dish called "pote de berzas" (collard green stew). Since I'm using canned beans and stock, it's easy and fast to put together. Washing the mustard greens was what took the longest.

My ingredients. I would like to use homemade stock, but there is not always time to make it. A variety of canned white beans, and sausage from Warren Wilson. Also a secret porcine ingredient.

Browning the sausage

Smells good

Adding the greens!

Rinsed beans

Not ready yet. We'll let it simmer a while longer.

Tomato salad with feta cheese

Some good bread and a generous glass of wine

Pittsburgh, PA

2011-09-27T17:17:00.010-04:00

I went up to Pittsburgh for a conference. Had a real good time, in my own way.

Friday night, crossing the river heading into downtown Pittsburgh.

On Friday evening I went to see the Bob Mintzer Big Band, one of the great big bands in all the land. They rocked the joint! Pure heavy metal (saxophones, trombones and trumpets)

All the sax players could double, either on flute or clarinet.

Tacos al pastor. Just about perfect. From Mendoza Express, a little joint on the corner, run by folks from Acapulco.

My hotel room had a fridge. This is the champagne of beers.

The lovely view from my hotel in Greentree (a few miles from downtown).

Franco Harris, making that miracle catch against the Raiders almost 40 years ago. I've never been anyplace as football crazy as Pittsburgh.

My ride home

Carolina Paella, step-by-step

2011-09-04T23:55:00.007-04:00

Paella, let's see how we get here.

Let's get started.

On the left, the chicken for the stock. On the right, the pieces that will be in the dish.

I'll add this to the stock.

My stock is going!

I like to use a mixture of extra virgin olive oil (for the taste) and peanut oil (to raise the smoke point)

This chicken is done on the outside. It will finish cooking in the rice later.

Adding a little white wine to the stock

I put the shrimp in for just a few seconds, to absorb flavor, not so much to cook. I'll now let it marinade in white wine.

Onions and garlic. Basic to any good cooking.

The chicken left over from making stock. I can make enchiladas with this, or chicken salad.

Some red and green pepper, some onion, some garlic, some chickenparts ... what?

I rinsed the rice, a little more than two cups, probably (I didn't measure!)

Okra, would not be an ingredient in Valencia ... but we're in Carolina, son!

Azafrán, Saffron, gives paella its yellow color, and a certain flavor.

Paella, on the stove

Friday Night at JJ's (Sept. 2, 2011)

2011-09-03T00:01:00.008-04:00

The 4-tet in action

Mr. T, blowin'

Papa Joe, holding the bottom down.

His left hand is a blur.

I've got my eyes closed. Thanks to those guys for letting me sit in.

Tyler listens intently. I rest my horn on my ample belly.

David Amram live in the Village

2011-08-16T21:09:00.006-04:00

I think he was playing Ellington's Canadian anthem, "Take the Train, eh?"

David Amram and band. The bongo player (solid, by the way) is an organic farmer by profession.

Like Rahsaan Roland Kirk, dude can play two instruments simultaneously.

I think he talked as much as he played. But he was a fascinating speaker, reminiscing about Kerouac, Mingus, Eugene Ormandy and Native American Music, tirades against electronic music, sermons about creativity ... What a guy!

All photos by the spousal unit and the issue.

Wetzel Lake Clay Trail

2011-08-14T12:38:00.009-04:00

On my wordy-word site a short time back, I reminisced about the clay trail out at Wetzel Lake. I wondered if kids still walked it today, 35 years after I used to do it. I remember once or twice even fishing there with my dad in his little row boat during his retirement. That would have been the early 90s. The lake level was still high at that time. Well, on my recent trip to Mancelona, along with my sister, I went to investigate the state of the clay trail. It turns out that the lake levels are so low these days that it is well above the lake level.

My sister on my late dad's clumsy cruiser. Bless her heart for riding it all the way out to Wetzel and back.

This is the clay trail that we used to walk in water up to our titties.

End of the trail. Kind of cool. I don't know if the ruts are new, due to water run off. My vague recollection is that around this part the ruts were there, albeit in waist-deep water.

Gumbo

2011-08-09T12:25:00.007-04:00

Lots of vegetables in the refrigerator. Hmm. How about a gumbo?

I've got my roux going: one part olive oil, two parts flower. This one needs to linger longer on the heat.

Andouille, from Warren Wilson farms

Some parsley, some cabbage, some homemade Cajun vegetable stock, some onions ... I'm not seeing the garlic, the green pepper, the white wine!

Once the roux is brown to your satisfaction, you add the onions, the garlic, and the green pepper. Once the onions are cooked some, you add your vegetables .. like this delicious okra. Also a cup of white wine!

Served with a tomato salad and rice ... that's nice.

Tyler Kittle 4-Tet

2011-08-06T15:22:00.002-04:00

Live at JJ's, 5 Aug 2011

Mr. T, his bad self

Second Annual Destination Unknown / Lyzzy Bordyn Reunion Jam

2011-08-01T15:25:00.008-04:00

Ken!

Ken had some songs ready for us and we learned them fast, quick and in a hurry.

Jammin'

Fat and balding rhythm section

I remember that chord! I'm going to trade all my vinyl for this axe.

Yeah, I'm bumpin' that bass.

Loose Nuts

Mancelona Bike Ride

2011-07-28T16:44:00.018-04:00

Mancelona Ironman sculpture outside the high school, recognizing the town's iron working heritage (Antrim Ironworks - 1886-1945)

What was once a company house in Mancitucky, aka Antrim

Beware of the Bear, Antrim

Road down to Green Lake ... Let's fly over this soft sand!

Green Lake. Water level is way down.

Chapman Cemetery. Guitar pickin' and truck drivin'

Mancelona Steel Tank, still operating.

Pete or Ken? (Mancelona Steel Tank tractors)

This one's retired.

The old Mt. Clemens Metal Projects plant, later Gulf & Western, later Dura ... Now shut down.

The adjective ramshackle comes to mind.

Stone House.

Maverick shut down too.

Harleys lined up outside the Pressbox. Ashley's Ride
.

Midtown Manhattan

2011-07-15T16:28:00.005-04:00

The Queensboro Bridge, a double decker. It crosses the East River, over Roosevelt Island and then on to Queens.

Sunset, from the 29th floor, 64th st.

Marco at MOMA

2011-07-14T15:08:00.004-04:00

Jackson Pollock. Where is the cigarette butt? Where did he take a leak on it?

Andy Warhol's Elvis, Elvis, was a hero, hero ... I posted it on Facebook, where one friend wrote, "he looks like he's all shook up" and another, "he looks like he's beside himself."

Sevilla

2011-07-14T10:58:00.004-04:00

Flores along the walkway at the edge of the river.

Juan Belmonte, peering at the Maestranza, the bullring, from Triana. Perhaps the best bullfighter in history. Somebody once told him the only thing he could do to improve would be to die in the ring. He replied that he was working on it. When he was a youth, he would sneak into the cortijos or ranches and fight bulls naked. If he was ever caught I'm sure he was punished, because fighting bulls are not supposed to have contact with humans. There is a hole in the middle of the statue; you can look through it and see the bullring.

The Triana bridge over the Guadalquivir. Back in the day, Seville was the point of entry for ships coming from the Americas. The river was full of ocean-going ships and all the riches first made landfall here. You can see the Torre del Oro on the left. Where the bunch of trees is on the right there once stood the Castillo de San Jorge, where the infamous Spanish Inquisition was based. Oh the heretics who were burned there. Later there was a soap factory. The white house this side of the trees now belongs to my friends Luis and Montse.

Marco and Steevo

2011-07-13T13:00:00.001-04:00

Cáceres

2011-07-08T20:30:00.006-04:00

We took advantage of the tower being open to see these splendid vistas of old Cáceres.

The plaza principal de Cáceres, the main square. Only recently was it made 100% pedestrian.

L to R: Delia, Vicente, Miguel Angel, Miguel, and Tomás, who, with his dreads, is a little blurry. But he is rocking a WCU jersey.

Artistas en Cáceres

2011-06-30T18:14:00.005-04:00

Saxamaphone quartet, with Vicente on tenor. The group was rehearsing for a gig accompanying a silent film, Chaplin, I think. They were sounding good. I wish I had been there to see it.

Delia studied ceramics at the fine arts school for four years, now she is studying sculpture. A friend from way back in the day!

Cigüeñas cacereñas

2011-06-25T17:44:00.003-04:00

Storks

in Cáceres

Bodas trianeras

2011-06-24T18:25:00.003-04:00

Is it good luck or bad luck to run across a wedding?

The Guadalquiver, to the right.

Triana

Two Days in May

2011-06-24T16:01:00.004-04:00

May 29, 2011. Nailing my pieces at the Spring recital, including Monk's "Pannonica."

May 30, 2011. This is the plane that dropped me off in Madrid. I took the picture after having a couple of drinks with a Russian woman who was off to Moscow.

Granada (2)

2011-06-23T16:22:00.007-04:00

These guys were busking, playing Gypsy jazz, in the style of Django Reinhardt. The woman is just tuning up her violin. The bass, as you can see, is a modified plastic trash can. The guitarists (at least two of the three) and the violinist were serious musicians.

Un pincho de tortilla con mayonesa, unas aceitunas y una copa de vino fino de Montilla ... What I enjoyed while listening to the musicians play.

Granada (1)

2011-06-21T11:42:00.010-04:00

That magnificent old pile, with the Sierra Nevada in the background. Taken from el mirador San Nicolás

Behind this wall, an enchanted garden, what granadinos call a "carmen."

Una casa granadina in the Albaicín

New Granada, from the Albaicín

The Cathedral

Marco and José Luis, on the terrace of José Luis's and Cati's house in the Albaicín. We used to play basketball together almost every day on the Paseo de los Tristes ... seventeen years ago!

José Luis and Cati

Jamalandruki

2011-06-18T12:27:00.005-04:00

Josetxo Goia-Arribe y la Orquesta Jamalandruki at Café Central in Madrid. The name of the band is taken from a magician, a character in Pamplona in the sixties. At first I thought the group's music sounded like kletzmer crossed with jazz, but Goia-Arribe said that it was based on the traditional sounds of his native Pamplona, and especially the sounds of San Fermin, like the paso dobles they play at bullfights. This laced with a generous dose of Thelonius Monk.

Pescados y mariscos: Avilés

2011-06-14T17:05:00.004-04:00

Merluza, "hake."

Cigalas, still alive.

Sorolla Patio

2011-06-14T16:54:00.003-04:00

In the patio of the Sorolla museum in Madrid.

Don Mario & the One-Man Band

2011-06-14T13:12:00.002-04:00

Don Mario Izaguirre, with the one-man-band statue. La Cartuja, Sevilla.

Tascas madrileñas

2011-06-14T08:37:00.011-04:00

Sevillian motif: Don Juan Tenorio, el "burlador" de Sevilla.

The greats of the Golden Age (early 17th C.), L to R: Calderón, Lope, Cervantes, and Quevedo.

L to R: Mariano José de Larra, Oscar Wilder, and a third guy.

The tapas board covers a ceramic reproduction of a Julio Romero de Torres painting. The girl on the cell phone stands in front of a Guardia Civil cut-out. Plaza del Ángel.

Near Plaza Santa Ana

There is no "Bodegas Calixto" across the street.

WCU Jazz combos (April 28, 2011)

2011-04-29T17:34:00.003-04:00

Another Dead Ringer

2011-04-13T15:14:00.001-04:00

WCU Jazz Fest, 2011

2011-04-09T20:24:00.008-04:00

Robbie and Randal, holding the bottom down.

The right side of the sax section. I used to sit there.

Chris, second tenor, taking his solo.

Brian, soloing

Delante Randolph, lead alto, WCU Jazz Ensemble

Director of Jazz Studies, Pavel Wlosok. His small group played with Bobby Watson in the second part of the evening.

One of the great alto players on the planet, special guest Bobby Watson

Real Men ...

2011-04-08T17:17:00.004-04:00

Bacon

Crust

Real men eat quiche. Word.

Jazz at JJ's - April 1, 2011

2011-04-02T11:29:00.009-04:00

Tyler Kittle 4-tet!

Blowin'

Mr. T, his bad self.

Preston, of the Vertigo Jazz Project. This one turned out well

Dancers. The average age of the audience members was about 60. They applauded loudly. I wonder how the tipping was.

Joe

Sean, also of Vertigo Jazz Project fame.

They let me sit on on a few tunes in the second set. I had tweaked the chart of my tune "Pensativo," so we played that.

Foreign Language Contest - 2011

2011-03-25T17:19:00.009-04:00

Parlons français

This kid is rapping in Spanish

"No te metas a mi Facebook"

Waiting to go on in the "French Skits" category

Oye, gitana, me gusta el bigote. ¿Me lees la mano?

Phony Pay Phones

2011-03-20T20:03:00.002-04:00

Only the shells remain. That's why I wanted to take a picture; to capture the intermediary stage between the phone being gone, and all traces of the pay phone being gone.

Spring Threatens to Break Out

2011-03-01T11:39:00.000-05:00

Chimichurri and T-bones

2011-02-14T22:00:00.003-05:00

The steaks, from Warren Wilson College. Grass fed beef. The green sauce: parsley, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, paprika, oregano, salt.

Tyler's Quintet at JJ's (Feb. 5 2011)

2011-02-07T18:39:00.002-05:00

The cats were sounding fine. Bless their hearts for letting me sit in, and agreeing to play my new tune, "Pensativo." Got some good feedback from the band.

The Tuckasegee River in Winter

2011-02-07T17:27:00.002-05:00

My cell phone takes pretty good pictures. I just push the button. Yesterday during my bike ride.

The Dragons, Live in Lansing

2011-01-29T18:02:00.004-05:00

The Dragons, live in a bar in downtown Lansing, MI, c. 1988. My brother Steve is playing my second Les Paul. The guitar was stolen from me about four years ago. I ran over my first Les Paul with a Chevy station wagon about 1979. That first one was a nice axe. Never really bonded with the second one. I give up on Les Pauls. If I ever buy another electric guitar, I'm thinking Telecaster or hollow body. Steve usually played drums. I don't who the cat sitting in on the drums with us was. Daniel with his back to the camera. We quarreled and broke up about a year or so later.

Avery's Restaurant

2011-01-11T12:39:00.004-05:00

I had a teacher once who would tell us that if we didn't study we'd end up "flippin' burgers at Avery's." Really, it didn't seem like such a bad way to end up. Impossible now, though, since they're going to tear it down and put up something shiny in its place.

Cedar River

2011-01-09T14:17:00.003-05:00

If you're from Mancy you know this site well. I took this with the cell phone after skiing with my brother.

Mancelona Sunset

2011-01-07T17:34:00.001-05:00

Took this with my phone from the roof of my mom's house. I was up there shoveling.

Woods in Winter

2011-01-07T14:59:00.000-05:00

Northwest of Mancelona,MI.

Mancelona High School "Stage Band," 1981

2011-01-02T20:42:00.001-05:00

Where's Marco?

Happy 2011

2010-12-17T15:44:00.003-05:00

Work by my friend Delia

Cassoulet

2010-12-06T19:23:00.005-05:00

It might not fly in Toulouse, but it flies in Carolina!

Mis en place. Andouille, garlic, bay leaves, onions, carrots. And I have stock going!

I like to cook with wine, even if the wine doesn't end up in the dish. Some red in a jelly jar.

In the oven, alongside a baguette that needs a little heating

WCU Jazz Ensemble in Concert

2010-12-02T12:05:00.002-05:00

Guest artist Scott Harrell takes a solo

(L to R) Marco, Matt, and Chris

Stop Snitchin'!

2010-11-27T21:44:00.001-05:00

Angelo

2010-11-13T19:35:00.004-05:00

Angelo is a senior football player who is taking Spanish with me. I took these pictures today at his last home college football game. He had an interception and I'm not sure how many tackles.

Ready

On the sideline

Hell Yeah!

Unknown Hinson: "Take a Drink, Be Somebody!"

2010-10-31T19:29:00.012-04:00

"I'll kick your ass"

"You can't say that!"

Philosopher and wiseacre

Miller time

If this is what the wormans look like here, Baby, I'm Venus bound.

Hippie Chick??

Peace, Love and Hard Liquor

The King of Country & Western Troubadours

Ghostface Night in Asheville

2010-10-29T17:32:00.001-04:00

Quality of light

Partners in the rhyme witness program

JU likes the white pizza with the sun-dried tomatoes.

A hobo. A bum.

Detroit rapper who warmed up; I forget his handle.

Local rhymers.

Ghostface. The battery on the camera ran out on me, so this is the only shot I got.

Lamp Seen from Sofa

2010-10-19T16:43:00.002-04:00

Kenny, Then and Now

2010-08-10T18:05:00.003-04:00

1981

2010

San Antonio

2010-08-10T12:05:00.006-04:00

The most photographed façade in America?

The River Walk

Outside of a restaurant called "La Gloria," where I spilled sauce on my guayabera.

I think I'll take the taxi.

My hair is getting a little long.

"Usted es la culpable de todas mis angustias."

Music

2010-07-31T17:52:00.004-04:00

Monday afternoon

Friday night

Saturday

Destination Unkown / Lyzzy Bordyn Reunion Jam

2010-07-31T14:03:00.007-04:00

Before Jim Dandy and Lyzzy Bordyn there was Destination Unknown: Kenny, Barry and me. Our swan song was a party somewhere between Kalkaska and Mancelona. Apparently, now there is a trucking company between Mancelona and Kalkaska called, you guessed it, Destination Unknown.

Barry and Steven. I love this pic.

Kenny singing

Angus was not an original member of the band.

All photos by Marna Robertson.

Mancelona Image Quiz for Jim Dandy

2010-07-31T12:23:00.006-04:00

All these pictures were taken on a bike ride, July 28, 2010. Let's see if Jim Dandy can say where they were taken.

Tree Removal

2010-07-31T12:07:00.003-04:00

One night in Mancelona there was an intense thunderstorm with a lot of wind. A maple that was already half dead in the field next to the house snapped. The next day I took a little saw and cleaned it up. I cut the big pieces into firewood and through the small branches and leaves into a brush pile.

Before

After

I'm Contagious,

2010-07-21T21:37:00.002-04:00

and I'm going into the ocean.

Wilmington, NC

In Durham

2010-07-21T21:12:00.007-04:00

Your humble servant.

I played a lot of ball here in the Card Gym.

Where basketball fanatics congregate.

Old Man Duke with his stogie.

At least they had clams, and fish and chips.

USA vs. Korea, Durham, NC, July 17, 2010

2010-07-21T20:19:00.005-04:00

These fellows were ostentatious in their patriotic dedication to the cause of USA baseball.

Hit Bull, Win Steak

It was a pitchers' duel, with the US squeakingi t out by a run.

Edith, Julie and me.

Mina's Images

2010-07-06T20:22:00.005-04:00

sittin' in (june 19, 2010)

2010-06-20T18:20:00.004-04:00

I appreciate that these guys always let me sit in for a tune or two. We played my tune ("Night in Cullowhee"), an Eddie Harris number, and then "Sweet Georgia Brown." The Fourtet was cookin' all night, with guest Trevor on bass. The energy level on some tunes, like Monk's "Well You Needn't," for example, was punk rockish. L to R: Me, Tyler, Trevor

Piano Recital, June 6, 2010

2010-06-16T11:57:00.002-04:00

I think this is the best I've played at a recital. The mistakes I made could probably only have been noticed by somebody familiar with the score. Here I'm playing "Lovely Weather, Heather."

"Lovely Weather, Heather"

2010-04-20T19:38:00.018-04:00

is the title of a tune I wrote. I am fortunate enough to have a student who is a music production major, who, knowing I have an interest in recording music, offered me some studio time. About a month ago I recorded a couple of tracks: piano, bass and drums. I played piano and bass and collaborated with a great young drummer, Matt. On Sunday, we put the saxes on the top.

I played bari, that's Brian on alto, and Tyler on tenor.

The tune has a 40-bar structure. We played three choruses. Statement of theme, tenor sax solo, restatement of theme. Tyler was cookin.'

I would like to thank Aaron, for the studio time; Brian, for helping out in the studio and blowing alto, and Tyler, for coming down the mountain to play some saxophone.

Listen to Lovely Weather, Heather.

Social Hierarchy, Chez Couture

2010-04-09T18:21:00.003-04:00

Mishu covets thy neighbor's bed.

Mishu has her neighbor's bed.

Unknown Hinson, Greenville, SC, April 2, 2010

2010-04-03T13:50:00.009-04:00

Yuh Yuh, Bayby

Jarrod and I getting our party liquor on before Unknown Hinson takes the stage.

Unknown Hinson, tearing it up.

"Your man is gay / as a goose, darlin' / Gay, it's the truth, darlin'"

Unknown Hinson changes a guitar string during his cover of "Manic Depression."

I review the show over at my wordy word site.

Jazz in Glenville, March 26, 2010

2010-03-27T18:12:00.004-04:00

Justin on the keys and Sean on the drums.

Joe and Tyler, color-coordinated.

Yours truly, a ghost of a sax player. Tyler was nice enough to let me sit in for a couple of tunes, a C blues and a John Scofield jam.

Foreign Language Contest - Handing Out Awards

2010-03-23T17:23:00.003-04:00

Dude, what happened to your hair?

Jazz in Glenville, February 19, 2010

2010-02-20T12:03:00.007-05:00

Sean, Joe, Tyler, and Justin

Tyler, blowin'

Sean, kickin' it

Justin, dressed as my dad in the 1970s

The band Tyler put together, with members of the Vertigo Jazz Project, sounded great. They started with "Avalon," and right away my heart rate rose. The place, while admittedly small, was packed, and the band was swinging. In the second set, they had guests come up to play, but since I haven't been playing horn lately, I didn't take my axe. I just drank Gaelic Ale, chatted with my friends, and took some pictures. A good time was had by all, and my faith in humanity was restored.

Markley Davidson

2010-02-18T16:08:00.004-05:00

Oops, I only put one m in Hammerhead. When I was a kid, this was my idea of what my ride would be when I grew up. Next, my actual ride!

1964

2010-02-07T13:44:00.003-05:00

What's that I'm putting in my mouth?

Dandy Markhol

2010-01-30T23:09:00.001-05:00

Blowin'

2010-01-18T16:58:00.003-05:00

photo by Pavel Wlosok.

Rock Concert, 1980, or '81

2010-01-16T09:49:00.001-05:00

At Castle Farms

Who did I think I was, Jim Morrison?

Some of Steve's Records

2010-01-07T17:00:00.003-05:00

To do justice to the number of records, you'd need to pan around the whole room. And this is just a basement room for overflow.

Cross-Country Skiing in Michigan with Steve (2009 edition)

2010-01-05T16:14:00.006-05:00

This year, instead of driving down to Cedar River to ski, we just put our skis on and headed off. We skied down Kresnak Road until it met Johnson road, and then continued, almost to M-88.

Steevo.

Marco.

When Steven headed back to Mt. Pleasant he accidentally took my boots with him, since his and mine are almost identical. So this was the only skiing I did during the whirlwind Michigan trip.

Winter Wonderland?

2009-12-21T13:11:00.003-05:00

Fidgabel and Izit

Piano Recital

2009-12-20T19:55:00.005-05:00

Andrea asked me to talk a little about the difference between the Bach minuet I played and the Lynn Freeman Olson jazzified version of it that I played afterwards.

Andrea's piano students.

The truth is that I was nervous (I have no qualms about public speaking, but public piano playing gives me the heebie jeebies) and I didn't really play up to my abilities, but I'm working at it and I'm always willing to give it a shot! There were a couple of passages that I murdered. Sorry about that!

Marco & Friends, Dec. 17, 2009

2009-12-17T20:01:00.008-05:00

My Friend Ted asked me to put a band together for a function at our university "night club," and I obliged. Here we are. We rehearsed only once, last Sunday, and without Martin. But I must say that it coagulated pretty well this evening. From left to right: Andrew, Martin, Max, JC and me.

Max & JC

Martin was sounding good on the tenor.

Martin and I, a duo.

Andrew was sounding great on the Les Paul.

JC held the bottom down.

Lyzzy Bordyn (c. 1981)

2009-12-15T17:38:00.008-05:00

Jim Dandy sent me an extra-special Chirstmas Birthday Hanukah Kwanza New Year package, which included a flash drive. Look here!, a file full of photos that I either have never seen, or more likely, that I saw but fogot. Blasts from the past, alas.

Kenny was my first influence as I picked up the electric guitar. He led the first band I was ever in, Destination Unknown, and I still remember some of his licks clearly.

Jim Dandy. When he joined the band, the name changed to Lyzzy Bordyn. He brought a theatricality and some good songs to the band. Note the racoon dangling from Barry's drum set.

What ever happened to all that hair?

For awhile, Kenny was out of the band, a big loss, but we kept at it. Barry could kick it on the drums, but he needed to work on his scowl.

Jazz Ensemble Performance

2009-12-04T12:19:00.003-05:00

Here, with Hawk, the bari player, acknowledging the applause at the end of the show.

The band. The photos were taken by my daughter, who was too shy to move from her seat to get a different angle.

Goombay Festival, Asheville, Aug. 29, 2009

2009-11-05T18:12:00.005-05:00

We walked in just ahead of the red-shirted percussionist. I remember him telling his wife, "If So-and-so isn't there I'm not going to play." Well, So-and-so must have been there, because he played.

Little by Little...

2009-11-03T19:03:00.004-05:00

I'm figuring out how to make a good paella.

This one has shrimp and mussels that I bought at H-Mart in Atlanta.

Vicentito en Cherokee

2009-10-25T13:44:00.001-04:00

Junior Hell's Angels, Mancelona Chapter, c. 1971

2009-10-18T14:59:00.002-04:00

See, I've long dug bikes

Andrea, in concert

2009-10-05T19:39:00.005-04:00

My piano teacher played her piece by Villa Lobos beautifully at the recital; she was in the zone and made it look effortless. Fall concert of the Asheville Piano Forum. Photo by Pavel Wlosok.

My Bedroom, c. 1980

2009-09-25T15:23:00.001-04:00

Who can you identify?

We're Big in Japan

2009-08-28T17:20:00.002-04:00

This is the article that came out in a Tokushima paper while we were doing the pilgrimage. I'm third in line, the dude with the helmet. For me, it was great that the Japanese found our doing the Shikoku pilgrimage on bicycles to be so interesting and newsworthy ... so much so that we were in the newspaper, on TV and on the radio. The day that it came out, I was walking through a hotel lobby; I was there to use the "onsen" or heated baths. A bunch of old ladies who were doing the pilgrimage spotted me, approached, and started peppering me with questions in Japanese. I didn't understand a word, but I felt like a rock star, which is a good feeling.

Rafting, Pigeon River (Tennessee)

2009-08-27T20:17:00.003-04:00

I'm totally serious. Rafting is life and death. Vicente laughs at me. Also in the photo: wife, daughter, and daughter's friend.

Boots, my Sister and Me (1979)

2009-08-26T15:57:00.003-04:00

You dig the Doobie Brothers T-shirt?

Aventuras de cocina

2009-08-22T11:29:00.002-04:00

Vicente, along with some help from his assistant Igor, makes a tortilla de patatas.

Shikoku Idyll

2009-07-20T20:42:00.003-04:00

Hanging Ten in Shikoku

2009-07-17T20:16:00.002-04:00

Every Group Needs a Hug... I Mean a Thug

2009-07-15T20:39:00.005-04:00

I'm So Tired

2009-07-15T19:49:00.002-04:00

I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink
I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink
I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink
No,no,no.