May 16 Fifty Years

50 years. Think about it. Fifty years is a long time. A really long time. I DJ'd the 50th Wedding Anniversary of my friend Todd's parents Bob & Sharon last night. There were tables set up with a bunch of great pictures. I enjoyed the ones of Bob & Sharon when they were young and their wedding pictures. I laughed at the ones of Todd & Kevin when they were young. The party was a celebration of the past fifty years and I had a blast playing all those great tunes from the early days of rock and roll. There was a table of party people that had not slowed down one bit over the years, they had a great time dancing and singing along to the old favorites. There is nothing I enjoy more than listening to good storytellers telling stories. This crowd had several who are masters of the trade. I heard stories about Sharon ditching school to go to Chicago's version of American Bandstand to dance while younger family members would watch her on the television but never mention it to the parents. I heard first hand accounts of the Korean & Vietnam wars. Then there was friends of Todd's brother Kevin that would get dressed for church every Sunday and go to the Livesay house where Sharon would make them breakfast then hurry them home at 11am because church was over. Todd gave a great speech about his parents. He told the story about their honeymoon. They planned a trip to Florida and a young Bob was expecting warm sun, tropical drinks and Sharon in a bikini but after driving south for several hours Sharon began to cry. She missed home and family. Bob turned the car around and according to Todd that began a lifetime of Sharon being the boss. There were conflicting stories about the size of Sharon's boyfriend that Bob informed he was taking his girlfriend. Bob says he was huge, Sharon says he was small. As you can imagine fifty years of marriage can produce a million stories and lots were told throughout the night, especially as the champagne bottles were emptied. But one thing was repeated several times, Sharon loved her boys and you had better not mess with any of them. The pictures are Bob & Sharon dancing to 'Only You' by The Platters, Todd giving his speech and it wouldn't be a party without Todd turning on his 'white mans overbite' and show the youngsters how it is done on the dancefloor.

May 15 Ruminating In The Rain

I do not care where you live, the traffic is not as bad as Chicago's fucking disaster of a highway system. When you add miserable weather to the traffic, it boggles the mind how slow one can travel in the Chicagoland area. It once took me 7.5 hours to travel 67 miles during a snowstorm that produced 5 inches of snow. Today it was raining on and off like a monsoon. It took me over 2 hours to drive 16 miles on the Kennedy to the Dan Ryan. But this blog is not about the traffic, it's about what went through my mind while stuck in traffic. Earlier in the day I drove across Lawrence Ave from Jefferson Park to Albany Park to get to a job. I took a few pictures along the way. I noticed at least seven different languages on storefront signs along the way. English, Korean, Spanish, Serbian, Polish, Chinese and Arabic though I'm not sure if that is the correct name for that language. I also thought it was strange for Ralph's Marine to be located in the middle of a block nowhere near any water but the business looked busy. So while stuck in traffic I began thinking about all the different businesses on Lawrence Ave. The fact that a Chinese business can be next door to a Mexican business is what makes America great. We always hear that America is the greatest country in the world. It's true we often hear it from other Americans so I spent the afternoon wondering what makes America the greatest country on Earth. My conclusion is that diversity makes this the best country in the world. We are the best and maybe the worst of every other nation rolled into one country. Whether you can admit it or not, we are influenced by the many different cultures that Americans are exposed to on a daily basis. This changes the way we think about the world, the food we eat, the way we see ourselves. Back in 2003 I had to laugh at myself on my first flight to a foreign country. I had to fill out a landing card that asked for my nationality. I always answered this by saying Irish, Italian and German but that would be incorrect. For the first time in my life I answered American. It seemed strange because I had never called myself an American before that moment. When you add Chrissy's bloodline of Polish, Romainian, Lithuanian and German you can see how diverse our two families have gotten. This really is America's greatest strength. Obviously my trip down Lawrence Avenue got me started on this line of thinking but after 2 hours in traffic I still believe our greatest asset as a country is our diversity.

May 14 Ben Harper

This is the new album from Ben Harper. He usually records with his band the Innocent Criminals but he has a new band with him on this release, the Relentless 7. It doesn't matter who else plays with him, Ben is an incredible artist who deserves your attention. He can go from an amazing blues riff on slide guitar to gospel to funk to amazingly soulful ballads on any of his albums and does every genre perfectly. He has an emotion in his voice that is unmatched in rock 'n' roll today. It doesn't matter if he is pleading with a lover at the end of the relationship (Please Me Like You Want To) or railing against an injustice (Excuse Me Mister) the raw power in his voice and lyrics just pulls me in. He also has songs about standing up for yourself and your beliefs (Fight Outta You) and (Burn One Down). And just in case you think he is serious all the time check out Steal My Kisses or Mama's Got A Girlfriend Now. I first heard of Ben Harper as the opening act at a PJ Harvey concert about 15 years ago. I was so blown away by his performance that I completely forgot about PJ Harvey that night. I finally saw him again last year at the Chicago Theater. Once again I was transformed by the performance. It was the most radically diverse audience I've ever seen. Everyone was singing, dancing or just following the incredible groove of the show. After the concert, Ben came back on stage and thanked his fans for allowing him to play such a wide variety of music. Then he stood on the edge of the stage without a microphone and sang an a capella version of Steal My Kisses, if I remember correctly. One last video, Ben covering "Under Pressure".

May 13 The Wire

As you can see, it was a shit day weather wise today. I didn't get any sleep the past two nights due to hockey and work. So when I got home I watched the HBO show 'The Wire'. I know I'm late to this show but I only recently started watching it on demand. I'm in the middle of season three now. It is one of the best shows I've ever seen. It's up there with 6 Feet Under, The Sopranos, Hill Street Blues and Rescue Me for my all time favorite shows. I just thought you should know about it. I'm off to bed. Good night.

May 12 Tools

We had dinner at Aunt Ann's house tonight. I replaced the hydraulic lifts on her car trunk and she made us shrimp scampi & pasta. That is a fine trade off for me. I also began to organize all of the tools left behind by her husband and her son. She is trying to clean up the garage and wants to sell off the tools. While looking through all the tool boxes and trying to determine what some of the tools are used for, I began to think about who will go through all my stuff when I die. This wasn't some morbid "oh woes me" thoughts, just wondering on my part. I concluded that I hoped someone who could use the tools would get them. Ann kept insisting I take what I wanted or needed and I will. I really enjoyed seeing the old Craftsman tools & boxes. Her husband Mike spent a lifetime putting this collection together and then one day, he no longer needs them. Ann has no use for them. So they will get passed to people who will add them to their toolboxes, then their day will come and the cycle repeats itself. These are the thoughts I had while organizing the tools.

May 11 HAWKS WIN, HAWKS WIN

It was a day for youngsters. The whole family decided to pitch in and buy my nephew, Kennedy, a good mountain bike for his 12th birthday. So I took him to get the bike to be sure it was a good one. Now he has a better bike than I do but hopefully I have a riding partner. After that I watched the Blackhawks win an exciting 7-5 playoff game in front of the home crowd. The Hawks young stars got six of their seven goals, Patrick Kane (20) had a hat trick, Jonathan Toews (21) had two goals and an assist and Kris Versteeg (22) had a goal. One old guy (44) spent the night screaming at his TV and going crazy as the Hawks blew a two goal lead but came back strong to advance to the conference finals against either the despised Detroit Red Wings or the Anaheim Ducks. The Blackhawks picture was taken from the Chicago Tribune website.

May 10 Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day so here is my tribute my mom pictured above with her boys. BTW, would it kill Jeff to smile. I know I can speak for my brothers in saying that we got extremely lucky in the mom lottery. She has always been there for the three of us, even after we got big enough to take the wooden spoon from her during a beating. She didn't raise any idiots, when she yelled give me back that spoon so I could beat you some more we always said no. Since I'm the only son that doesn't live near her, I'm the forgotten one. It's OK, I know deep down she stills loves me. And even though I tease and torture her, I thank God that she is my mom. I'm glad I have her sense of humor as proven in the picture below as she thanked me for a Christmas gift.














That's an Italian for you, always talking with her hands. I love you too Mom.






















I have other moms to thank on this day. They are moms to me because they have treated me like their son and I'm forever grateful. This is Mrs. Drescher who has looked after me for as long as I can remember. I carried her groceries out on a cold day without a hat back when I was a kid.
The next time I walked out into the parking lot she was standing there with a hat for me that she had just bought at the drug store. And for over 25 years now, my invitation to all the Drescher family gatherings has been implicit. So for that I say Happy Mothers Day, Mrs. Drescher.














Here I am with my Italian and Puerto Rican Aunts, Maryann & Nora. I have invited myself into their homes and have always been treated like a son. In Maryann's case, this has happened at least once a year sometimes as much as 5 times a year. I can't say how much I've enjoyed staying up with Maryann or Nora until late into the night talking about family and life. My mom taught me about the importance of family throughout my life. Maryann & Nora have also shown me that family bonds should never be broken and for that I wish them both a Happy Mother's Day. My Aunt Pat and Mother-In-Law Marsha (I have to make dinner and couldn't find a good picture of them right away) have also treated me like a son and I wish them a Happy Mother's day also.













That brings me to Mrs. D. , Phyllis Delgado. Besides my mom, she has had the biggest influence on me of all my 'moms'. And nothing that I write here could express my gratitude properly. She really has taught me a lot about how to live my life by allowing me to be in her life and witness firsthand the right way to live. For that I say, Happy Mother's Day, Mrs. D.