It’s been a busy few days. I drove to Connecticut to my little sister and brother-in-law’s Tuesday (the 12th). Due to the traditional late start, I didn’t roll in until 4AM Wednesday, which meant that Wednesday was basically a recovery day.
Thursday was DaveCon. I rode the train into NYC from CT, met up with all my a.f.l. pals and had a fabulous Late Show experience. Then we shot the Tony Mendez Show (starring Tony Mendez) and off to dinner. Tony joined us at dinner and, as ballet season hasn’t started yet (he’s a huge fan), this year he stayed all evening, eating, sharing behind-the-scenes gossip and shouting “no more pictures“. A more in-depth DaveCon trip report is in the works. (DaveCon photos, here)
Friday I again rode the train in and met Traci, Helen, and the no longer yella Brady for pie. Due to some bad directions I was a bit late and missed Micah and David Yoder. Helen and Traci were headed to see the new Trek movie at the I-Max theater and Brady was bound for points unknown. I headed out to shop and sight-see by bike. Once I got going I was so totally overcome with, and enamored by, the rush of slithering through traffic that I lost sight of everything else. I weaved my way up the East side, through Harlem, into and around Central Park then down through the theater district and Times Square. Basically the only stops I made were to grab a hot dog, a pretzel, a banana, a slice of pizza, etcetera, devour it, and jump back on the bike. Finally, spent, I made my way back to Grand Central Terminal. I thought I could take my bike on any off-peak train and so I bought my ticket and boarded the 8:04 train to New Haven. Along comes the conductor and informs me that no, I have to wait for the 8:35 train, so, dejected, I get off the train and wait. Not a big deal, Grand Central is a wonderful place to pass some time, I was just tired and ready to head ‘home’.
Saturday and Sunday were spent hanging with the family and the doggies and a wonderful home-cooked meal, complete with a Vermont Mystic Apple Pie (thanks, sis, and Danny, for finding the pie).
Monday was another day of riding in NYC. Pie for breakfast then another train ride into the city. The weather was a bit cool and threatening-looking so the wind breaker put in an appearance (all day). I was a bit more successful in my shopping endeavors, and had a delightful lunch/snack in Chinatown. I had some sort of mystery cake; a dense sponge-type cake, covered in crushed nuts and filled with banana creme. This, a cup of tea and a big slab of fresh-baked bread set me back the princely sum of $2.10. (Cycling Manhattan photos, here)
I really can’t overstate how much fun I had. DaveCon was, once again, everything I could hope for (well aside from not getting the tour or photo-ops at Dave’s desk. Curse you, Kevin Spacey! And a pox upon you too, “Survivors”).
Cycling in Manhattan was, quite possibly, the most fun I’ve ever had. Weaving and slithering through traffic I felt, quite literally, like some kind of super-hero. I really do love New York.
Special thanks to all those involved for making it the trip of a lifetime (you know who you are).
Tuesday I drove back home and got to see Pennsylvania by daylight for the first time. It’s a lovely state. I’m thinking of relocating to Sugar Notch, PA.
In the time honored tradition of starting at the end and working back, I’m going to tell you bitch about my trip home. Just so you’re not totally in the dark, I will tell you that I went to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Connecticut and to NYC for DaveCon, to see The Late Show with David Letterman.
OK… so, I was supposed to fly out of White Plains, NY at 5:29 PM yesterday (Monday), change planes at Washington Reagan Airport, and arrive home at 8:49.
5:29 came and went. They kept coming on the PA and reassuring us that the plane was on its way and had just been delayed by weather. The plane finally lands and they promptly herd us out onto the tarmac, across a couple of hundred yards of said tarmac, and onto our plane. Everyone gets seated, the flight attendant does her little safety puppet show, then the captain comes on. The plane’s weather radar system is broken. They had hoped to fix it while on the ground but couldn’t, so we will all need to exit the plane, head back to the terminal, and make other arrangements. Melon Fever!
We are directed back to the ticket counter, where they have two people working; frantically trying to find all of us alternate flights while also taking care of everyone else who’s checking in and what-not. After many very tense minutes, they find me a flight connecting in Philadelphia which is boarding… right fucking now. So, I’m off to security, where, thanks to the fact that I’ve been outside on the tarmac, I now have to go through not just regular security, but the whole everything-but-the-cavity-search-shebangabang. I keep setting off the metal detector, in my haste I’ve forgotten the various items I moved from my bag to my pockets after I went through security the last time.
I gather up my crap, not even taking the time to put my laptop back into the bag, and run for my plane. I make it, they pull the steps away and close the door as I’m settling into my seat.
And then we wait, and wait… then wait some more. Finally we’re airborne for the short hop to Philadelphia.
In Philadelphia my flight to Dayton was (predictably) delayed as well. Late boarding and delayed enough on takeoff that they actually served us beverages while we waited to take off.
Anyway… by the time I arrived in Dayton it was nearly midnight. The good news (apart from making it at all, in one piece) was that they did manage to get my bag off of the broken plane and onto the correct plane, so my bag did arrive when and where I did.
All in all, a perfectly crappy way to punctuate what was, otherwise, a fantastic trip. More on that later.
The other day I wrote about my excitement vis-à-vis my Cameo Mention in the Wahoo Gazette. As luck would have it, I now seem to have angered the Wahoo Gazetteer through no real fault of my own. Here’s what he had to say in today’s Wahoo:
So I give this “Greg Evans” guy a cameo mention the other day. I often see his name in the alt.fan.letterman newsgroup commenting on the show so I decided to give him a mention. This usually results in a cheap Wahoo Gazette plug in the discussion group. Unfortunately, it barely got a blip.
And then I find out that Greg Evans has a website. I checked it out. He spouts how proud he is to have received a cameo mention in the Wahoo Gazette. I was happy to read the shout out. I peruse some more. Down along the right side is a list entitled “Blogs and Such Which I Frequent.” It is a list of 50 blogs and websites Greg Evans likes to read. The Wahoo Gazette is not one of them. Can you believe it? Greg Evans claims to be a fan of David Letterman since his daytime show back in 1980, so how can he not frequent the Wahoo Gazette? It makes no sense. He mentions Dave Yoder’s Letterman website. He does not mention the Wahoo Gazette. Misdirected energy, I say.
And what hurts even more . . . . . Greg Evans writes about his Cameo Mention in the Wahoo Gazette . . . and it receives no comments from his readers . . . if he HAS any readers!
http://www.gsevans.com/blog/
The Wahoo Cameo Committee is presently considering rescinding Mr. Evans’ Cameo Mention.
And here is a snippet of my response, as posted to AFL:
In all honesty, I tried quite some time ago to add a link to the Wahoo, but couldn’t figure out a way to link to it directly since the URL’s are dynamically generated. I did figure it out though.
I’ve added it to my links, I sure hope they don’t rescind
my Cameo Mention!
I can’t believe MikeMack went here:
Greg Evans writes about his Cameo Mention in the Wahoo Gazette . . . and it receives no comments from his readers . . . if he HAS any readers!
Sure I have readers! They’re called web-crawlers, bots and
spiders!
Why must you build me up, only to tear me down, MikeMack, why?
As I’ve doubtless mentioned before, I’m a big David Letterman fan. Have been since his morning show days nearly 28 years ago (boy, that doesn’t make me feel old… no, not at all). Anyway, imagine my delight when I was catching up on my Wahoo Gazette reading and discovered that the May 1st ‘Cameo Mention of a Wahoo Reader’ was me!
Posted by Greg Evans in general, Letterman Comments: Comments Off
David Letterman had as his guest Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Strangely, instead of the typical interview, they were playing a game that was a cross between miniature golf and soccer, which involved them scooting about on desk chairs while avoiding various obstacles and trying to kick golf balls (they each had their own) into sequentially numbered hole/basket/goals. This game was created by Jerry Lewis, who had appeared earlier to (somewhat comically, somewhat disturbingly) explain it.
As the two of them played the game Paul and the band accompanied the action with calliope “clown music” (I wish I knew the name of the tune; it’s instantly recognizable). They were neck and neck coming down toward the final goal when Dave grabbed the arm of CT’s chair with one hand then with his other hand reached into CT’s suit jacket pocket where there was an asthma inhaler which he discharged 6 or 7 times (as a diversion?)
This allowed Dave to kick the winning goal, whereupon he shouted “35 points!! In your face, Thomas!” (No, I have no idea how he arrived at the 35 point figure.)
What does this all mean?
It could just mean that I’m nuts; or it could simply indicate that when a medication cautions it may cause “vivid dreams” what they really mean is “weird-ass dreams”.
That’s not so much a side-effect as it is a ‘bonus’ in my book. I mean seriously, if you gotta have side effects, that’s not a bad one to get.
I hang out in the news group Alt.Fan.Letterman occasionally a lot. Over the years I think some of ‘the regulars’ over there have begun to begrudgingly accept me. Imagine my delight when I received a package (I’m considering it a birthday gift) in the mail from Kath, my favorite Australian.
Note the clever (and no doubt, intentional) misspelling of my name, lest I get too cocky.
A lovely card inside.
Signed by people I don’t know, at least one of whom seems unnaturally interested in seeing my pigeon-chest.
My Dingo! My Dingo!
The flip-side, showing Fraser Island, the dingo’s supposed home. I can’t imagine how they ever find a baby in all that sand! No wonder the poor thing looks so hungry!
You know how now they’ve got those musical greeting cards that actually sound “musical”? Well, my mother, always one to embrace our Irish heritage (she hoped I would be born on St. Pat’s day; my middle name would have been Patrick) sent me a St. Patrick’s card that plays music. Imagine my surprize when I realized that it was playing a Dropkick Murphys song.
More specifically, this one:
There’s also a really good live performance here, it’s a Live on Letterman Web Exclusive!
Today (Jan 24, 2008) would have been Warren Zevon’s 61st birthday. It’s hard to believe that he’s been gone for over 4 years now. Anyway, in celebration of Warren’s birthday I present you with the following video from the Late Show with David Letterman.
The news of Warrens terminal cancer diagnosis had recently come out and Warren’s old pal Dave Letterman dedicated an entire show to his friend, giving him the whole hour. This was the show where when he was asked by Dave how his work now (as he worked feverishly to complete one last album with the time he had left) compared to before, when he assumed he was healthy Warren replied:
You’re reminded to enjoy every sandwich and every minute of playing with the guys, and being with the kids and…
I never get tired of seeing this, despite how heart wrenching the reality of it is.
Back in October of last year I saw the band ‘Brazilian Girls‘ perform on The Late Show with David Letterman. I was really impressed with them, great music coupled with an innovative and arresting stage show (bordering on performance art), but somehow still managed to promptly forget all about them.
So anyway, this past Sunday I was watching A&E’s ‘Breakfast with the Arts’ and guess who was on? Brazilian Girls! Let me pause a moment to explain one thing, “Brazilian Girls” is just the name of the band. There is only one girl, Sabina Sciubba, who is drop-dead gorgeous, but is not Brazilian, hailing instead from Italy and Germany. The 3 guys in the band (Didi Gutman, Aaron Johnston, and Jesse Murphy) are also not Brazilian, nor are any of them girls. Anyway, they’ve become my new musical obsession and I can’t wait to get both of their CD’s.
Here’s their video for “Jique” which Sabina sings in English, Italian, French, and German (by my count). The title, “Jique”, is apparently a word of her own invention.
You can find videos, wallpapers, and lots more on their website, including the aforementioned Letterman and “Breakfast with the Arts” appearances.
Do yourself a favor, buy or downloadRodrigo y Gabriela’s eponymous CD. When I saw them on “The Late Show with David Letterman” back in December, I immediately went to eMusic to see if it was available there. It was, I downloaded it, burned a disc, and it’s been in heavy rotation in the car CD player since. If you don’t like this CD there’s something wrong with you!
Just to tie things together, here’s a (tenuous) Tom Morello connection. On April 29th they’re playing the Coachella Festival; also playing Coachella this year? The reunited Rage Against the Machine!
Here’s the aforementioned Letterman appearance. The song they’re playing is “Diablo Rojo”; enjoy.
of their