This is my favorite place in the whole world.
I created this with Paint Shop Pro 3.11 which is a piece of software I refuse to give up. It is 8 years old, but I love it.
There is a water tower in the Park that looks more like a Middle Ages stone castle. The masonry in this structure is quite beautiful. I got a little lost coming out of Rockford Park, but I did get to see Trolley Square. If I didn't have to deal with the trouble of financing and paperwork, I would love to live in Trolley Square. In the future, I would like to take some photos in the area and share them. This part of Wilmington is like the nicer/older parts of Philly or Boston. Also, it's nice to know that I can still walk three miles, despite being 41 years old and "portly."
I *highly* recommend the Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze Quadra air purifier. It seems expensive at first, but when you consider that it doesn't require filters, produces a little pleasing ozone, and that it really does clean the air (I have a long-haired cat named Fred), it is worth every penny spent. Today, its little red light went on, meaning I needed to clean it; and I was amazed what it picked up from the air. No wonder I'm breathing better.
Yesterday's turkey turned out very well. It was my very first roasted turkey! One doesn't need cranberry sauce -- try raisins and walnuts, with some red wine vinegar and olive oil instead.
I found a new KMart I'll be patronizing in the future. It is only 7 miles away, vs. the closer one which is 2 miles away; but the one on Maryland is a pleasure to shop in; the one I was going to in Bear, Delaware is bedlam.
I am so glad it is all in my place now. Now to put it together...I'll let you know when it's done in a month or two.
Fred is an older cat. He is at least 10 years old, but shows no signs of aging. He still likes to chase toys, and is quite vocal. He also likes to steal my drinking water, despite the fact that he has his own bowl of fresh, filtered water always available.
Katz...
"Booby" comes from the lyrics to a 1920s song entitled "You're An Old Smoothie" played by one of those 200 piece (give or take) bands in a huge hotel ballroom back then. Good music.
I was going to water the flowers out on the patio, but it'll wait until the morning. I won't run in any fresh kids at that hour. "Gabe's hiding again." Not really. I just don't want to see any fresh kids.
I spent 45 minutes working on my new exercise equipment. It is going together faster than I thought. I only hurt my right index finger twice! Nothing to worry about, just an "ouch, that smarts."
I also learned this in the supermarket. Did you know that John Gotti's ghost is running the mob now? It was news to me.
I spent two hours working on the exercise equipment. It is done, except for the lat pull down attachment. I tried it out and the feeling was great. We'll see if I feel the same way tomorrow morning! Wouldn't it be great if I could get back to my "fighting weight" of 150 lbs..?!
I have lost about 10 lbs... since I started my diet and exercise program. So I am making progress. Tomorrow morning is my weigh in again -- every Thursday morning.
Went to the bank today. It is very close to the downtown area in the city in which I live, and talk about convoluted parking lots. I can see every building in the lot, except that I still get lost. "You can't get from KMart to Sears." Only kidding, but it is almost like that.
The bank is cute. That's the only word for it. It looks like a bank from an early 1960s sit-com. I enjoy going into it. It is a refreshing change from big city banks.
The cinematography was better than usual for TV, and gritty/urban/dark -- kind of neo-Film Noir.
Too many commercials though. WAY too many commercials.
It reminds me a little of 'The Others" which was fantastic, and there are no commercials. Rent or buy "The Others." 2001 meets 1943 and it is absolutely chilling. Nicole Kidman is as good an actor as was Grace Kelly, in my opinion.
Today is Wednesday? Three more days to the season opener of the Dickinson Kimball -- the best theatre organ in the East.
I completed the exercise machine, as well as the first day of upper body exercises. It certainly did feel good. It was like taking a hot shower on a cold day. I was supposed to also complete the abdominal and leg exercises, but I started getting clumsy and decided "enough was enough." The program is scheduled for one day on / on day off, so I'm not really behind.
It was a good day (or maybe I'm feeling good after my first real workout in quite sometime).
Tomorrow I am going to a "happy hour" and to see a friend/co-worker's new 90 year old house in Wilmington. I'm really looking forward to seeing the house. "I'll just have water with a twist of lime please."
Don't ask, I just like the graphic. It bespeaks a certain time and place, and about the wonder and modernity of radio at one time. Here is a little "Modern Radio" music.
I had two Nathan's Famous hot dogs with a slice of whole wheat bread for breakfast, and my usual Chase & Sanborn fresh brewed coffee and filtered water.
I thought I could use the extra protein since I will be completing my workout today (from Thursday night).
Last night I visited my co-worker friend in Wilmington and saw her new house, with another friend from work. The house is delightful. It is a mid-1920s row house, vaguely French provincial and classical. It has six large rooms with a living room, dining room, and kitchen on the first floor and three bedrooms on the 2nd floor, hardwood floors, a front porch, and is on a tree lined street near Rockford Park.
The house is in the "Trolley Square" section of Wilmington, which is filled with row houses from say 1890 to 1930. There are numerous small parks and corner shops that give the neighborhood a lot of charm. It is "San Francisco" or "London" but on a smaller scale. A freight train line runs through the neighborhood, which reminds me of Jersey City. We ate at one of the many nice restaurants in town. I had a steak salad which was just right for my diet.
In fact, when I still lived in New Jersey, I purchased a CD, "Discovering the Unit Orchestra." It said it was recorded using the Dickinson Kimball Organ. I wondered where the organ was, because is sounded fantastic. Low and behold, I move to Delaware and I discovered, to my delight, that it is only 10 miles from where I live! I have been to nearly every concert since I moved here.
If you live within 200 miles of this organ, I highly recommend the trip to hear it live and in person. You'll never forget it.
By the way, I live in "organ" country. There's the Dickinson Kimball, the Wanamaker Organ, The Curtis Institute Organ, the Aeolian Organ at Longwood, The Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ and Ballroom Organ, etc. These are some of the largest and best pipe organs in the world.
I do most of my food shopping at Genuardi's Food Market, which is really a Safeway with an Italian name for us Northeastern Italian folk. They have a great deli department which is mostly Italian but also traditionally Jewish -- the best of both!!
The organist, John Giacchi, from Australia, was outstanding. He received several multi-minute moments of applause. He was somewhat unfamiliar with this particular organ, but his playing was nearly seamless.
He was quite good at making the organ "whisper" but he could make it "roar" as well. His rendition of "Body and Soul" was just right, and he also played "Honeymoon Hotel" (from 1933 by Harry Waren and Al Dubin) with some amusing effects.
Jersey City's claim to fame: "Honeymoon Hotel" and the "Jersey Bounce." Lyrics from "Honeymoon Hotel" (my how times have changed!)...
"Girls, you'll have to scatter. We don't see why we should. 'Cause you're in Jersey City And not in Hollywood!
"We've got to be in bed before eleven. Naturally, we think it's very swell, 'Cause every little bridal suite is heaven At the Honeymoon Hotel."
Also, the organist quoted from S.T. Coleridge's "Kubla Khan"...
"A VISION IN A DREAM.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree..."
which reminded me of my favorite place in the world...
I actually didn't notice the weather today, but I know it wasn't raining.
I didn't do the food shopping yesterday because there was a queue for the laundry room and that took all afternoon to finish. So I went food shopping tonight and forgot the cereal and soap. Oh well, back to the store tomorrow.
Anyway, he is the best theatre organist I have ever heard -- among the young set. Mr. Giacchi is 33 years old. That's almost 1/2 the age of Mick Jagger, and he plays the pipe organ, Giacchi that is.
He's quite theatrical in his style of playing, which is the whole point of the theatre organ anyway, isn't it?!
I learned to tune out the noise after 2 years -- unless it is sudden crash from upstairs, but even then, it no longer phases me.
This is a vision of the future of New York City drawn by Hugh Ferris sometime in the mid-1920s.
I did see part of my favorite stupid movie called "Critters." This is a movie that is so bad it's good. It is a tongue-in-cheek horror/sci-fi movie. It is one of the last movies I saw at the Loew's Jersey Theatre in the 1980s before the theatre was shuttered for about a decade.
"At Sundown" from 1927. If you are interested in about 40 other recordings of my player piano, you can find them here.
I have yet to make a decent web page of the recordings, but I'm working on it.
Yesterday, I found a very interesting web page with photos of the Loew's Kings Theatre which is soon to be no more. The Loew's Jersey is a sister to the Kings. They are very similar buildings.
So even though these are photos of the Kings Theatre, this is what the Loew's Jersey is like inside. Not kidding, no exaggeration.
I just read that a new movie with some folks named Samantha, Derwood (I mean Darren), Endora, Aunt Clara, et al. (or "Bewitched") is going to be made. I will gladly pay $5 to see this one!
Written by: Walter Donaldson in 1927.
Sunbeams are gently fading, slowly fading,
And birds are waiting to do their mating,
When eventide is nigh, moonbeams are descending,
The day is ending, a happy ending,
The sun is sinking below the western sky.
Chorus:
Every little breeze is sighing of love at sundown,
Every little bird is resting and feather nesting at sundown.
Each little rosebud is sleeping, while shadows are creeping,
In a little cottage cozy the world seems rosy at sundown
Where a loving smile will greet me and always meet me at sundown.
I seem to sigh, I'm in heaven,
When night is falling and love is calling me home.
Daydreams through fields of clover, will soon be over,
And happy hours 'mid sunny flowers will wait another day,
Sweet dreams have just begun, dear, the day is done, dear,
When skies grow dimmer,
And stars will glimmer along the starlit way.
Chorus:
Every little breeze is sighing of love at sundown,
Every little bird is resting and feather nesting at sundown.
Each little rosebud is sleeping, while shadows are creeping,
In a little cottage cozy the world seems rosy at sundown
Where a loving smile will greet me and always meet me at sundown.
I seem to sigh, I'm in heaven,
When night is falling and love is calling me home.
It's 8:37 on a Tuesday night. All is quiet. I heard the Brady Bunch sing, "It's a Sunshine Day" today. So all is right with the world.
Spring Fever.
Did the 1920s really roar? Well, yes, they did actually roar!
Incidently, isn't is amazing how little men's clothing has changed in 80 years? Check this out. These fellows aren't wearing hats because one just doesn't wear a hat indoors. It is considered to be rude (at least in 1927 it was rude).
Saturday, October 19, 2002 at 9:38 a.m. It is again cloudy in Delaware. The temperature is 52 degrees and it is damp. It is going to rain this afternoon. Why is it so often cloudly in Delaware? Well, because it is almost an island, being a penisula that narrows at its most northern point to about 10 miles wide. It is more than 100 miles long and about 50 miles wide at its widest. "Anyone who is anyone" and most of the business are located above that narrow point, surrounding Wilmington. Northern Delaware amounts to what I would call quite a large city, with its own personality and style. It's not Philly, it's not Baltimore, and it's not New York. It is Northern Delaware in spirit, with its own history and customs.
I know. I said this was going to be a daily journal. Sorry, I will update it when I can. Sometimes I am too busy to update it, and sometimes my mind draws a blank. However, this morning I feel inspired to write a little.
I would like to set this blog up into a "real blog." I will work on doing so.
I'm not sure yet what I'll be doing this weekend. I have a package to pickup at the PO and then I'm free as a bird.
The post office is new and large -- a state of the art small town facility. That's because the area I live in is growing very rapidly. The farms are quickly being replaced by row houses and condo complexes. Oddly enough, parts of my area are a suburban slum, but other parts are very middle class.
I live about 5 minutes away from another state called Maryland. I often shop in Maryland because it is less busy. That's because Delaware doesn't have a sales tax and Maryland does. So the Marylanders flock to Delaware for shopping, leaving the Maryland stores in relative peace. I certainly don't lack for stores near my place. I can walk to the nearest supermarket, drugstore, and restaurants.
A carnival barker at the 1939 New York World's Fair:
http://www.gabesplayerpianos.org/music/The_Frozen_Alive_Man.mp3
Happy As A Lark:
http://www.gabesplayerpianos.org/music/Happy_As_A_Lark.mp3
Rid yourself of those annoying pop-up ads while you browse the web.
Pop-Up Stopper
http://www.panicware.com/
A friend recommended this website to me. You need to use an FTP client in order to download the programs, but it is free (up to 100 megs) and wonderful. Joining for a small fee gives you no time or transfer rate quotas on downloads.
Randy's Old Time Radio Shows
http://www.n8elq.com/
Radio listeners in 1930. Mabel and Brisbane were 5 years old.
Ugh! I was sick today, or at least I called out sick. We'll have no guilt trips now. I was/am sick. Don't know exactly what was wrong but I slept until 1:30 p.m. today, which is something I almost never do. I'm usually up by 7:30 a.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. on weekends.
I was sure something was wrong with the clock when I checked it, but no, I did in fact get up at 1:30 p.m.
Now I'm completely turned around and confused. It is 5:00 p.m. and it feels like Noon to me.
I am resting, relazing, and sweating. So something must be a little amiss.
I also mailed a package at Mail Boxes Etc. That's where I mail all of my stuff. If you can afford the few extra cents per package it is worth every penny. The lines are shorter, the staff is friendlier, and one can do other things there too, like make color copies.
Here's one of my favorite people in the world. She is Mrs. Wiggins. Does anyone remember her? The girl with personality plus?! She was played by Carol Burnett and was Mr. Tudball's inept and somewhat hostile secretary.
Hear Mrs. Wiggins speak (and Mr. Tudball in the beginning of the clip). She was also blond and not very bright.
I have also been busy working out. It takes about 1/2 per day, which cuts into my free time of about 3 hours per day. I feel sooo much better physically that I find it hard to put into words. However, I can say that when I am successful in losing the extra pounds, I will test like a 34 year old. Not bad for a 41 year old. Right now, thanks solely to the extra pounds, I test like a 51 year old. How come I can't take off as many years as I put on? or more?
A lot has happened to me lately. Let me start with the new tires. With the way I drive, and with my present car (the "pocket rocket") I wear out tires after 30,000 miles. It was time for new tires. So I went to Western Auto which has a good local reputation and got new tires. "You need high performance tires," said the salesman. I asked, "why can't I get the cheapy ones?" or words to that effect. He just gave me a look and said, "do you want your tires to last longer than 20,000 miles?" I said, "yes." "Then get the sport tires." They are Michelin Weather Wise Sport tires. The car also needed an alignment. These are nice tires. The car is much more quiet and I feel like I'm floating on air when I drive. I love Volkswagens again, especially the Golf and GTI. I have a Golf and would like to "graduate" to a GTI the next time I buy a car.
Yesterday, I went to the open house for the Dickinson Kimball organ. Anyone who wants can play the organ (no, I didn't play it), and some of the players were quite good. One girl played a nice version of "Fur Elise." She was taken aback by the sheer power in her hands. One little old lady played it, and she was quite good, and not the least bit shy about it. When she turned it on, it rumbled like a little earthquake, and one wag behind me said, "this thing is like a rocket ship. They strap you in, turn it on, and off you go!..." I was then treated to an individual tour of the entire organ, all four (five? yes, five floors now that I think about it) floors of the organ -- while it played!! I was climbing up and down ladders, walked under the stage, up to the projection booth, and workroom. I also had a nice long talk with the chief electrician for the organ. Did you know that large pipe organs require a staff of electricians? It's true. Once you've seen the wiring for one of these babies, it easy to see why.