The Longest Days of the Year

Since I work for a living it requires more effort than when I was younger to see the longest days of the year are also the best days of the year. As a child this necessitated very little effort. As you well know, it is in June that school ends for most, and the prospect of a summer full of free time presents itself. This always made me regard this period as one filled with possibilities.

To reflect upon what we did back then in the age before cable TV, The Internet, DVDs, I-Pods, and all the other gadgets we tell ourselves we cannot live without, is to ponder a world which cannot be re-created, except through extraordinary efforts. Who would willingly give up the technology of modern life? I certainly would not, least of all because I am a technology consultant.

In all seriousness, I wouldn't give it up because I can see the possibilities of modern technology and it makes me feel like a child in June. Yes, I am still a believer, despite all evidence to the contrary that our interrupt-driven society is turning us into a bunch of coach potatoes. I remain hopeful that once the novelty of always being connected wears off and we learn to look at our email less, and drive without having to make cell phone calls, that we will use the "modern connectedness" to renew the ties which once bound us together as a group. That is part of the purpose of this blog, not just to serve as a diary for memories, though that is a fine use for a blog. I believe the use of blogs like this one will help revive our long lost connections to one another; the associations which are so easy to let slide and fade away.

I trust you all will give this some thought and see if it applies to your situation. We will be here to help where we can. Cheers!

Kasschau Memorial Shell

"Kasschau Memorial Shell-50 Years of Free Summer Entertainment Under the Stars"

This was the title of a post on the Ridgewood Blog.
It seems rather quaint to think we used to gather on Veteran's Field during the summer and sit in lawn chairs and on blankets to watch movies. They weren't even first run movies but we gathered all the same. Today we can watch movies on our laptops while flying at 30,000 feet in an airplane. Though it's not the same as you well know.

I remember seeing movies accompanied by my parents and brothers, and later while in high school by a young lady. It makes me smile just to think how much things have changed yet remain the same. The band concerts and performances that are still being held every summer would seem very familiar to someone living 100 years ago. Most towns had a band shell like Ridgewood does or at least a public square where these sort of events would occur. People 100 years ago I imagine would also have understood that public performances tend to make everyone feel less isolated from and threatened by their neighbors. They may not have stated it as such, but it is worth mentioning in an age where people entertain themselves in their homes much more than they did even a generation ago.

1977 - The Year in Music

From Wikipedia:

January 26: Alice Cooper enters rehab for his alcoholism, after ten years of drinking a pack of beer a day.

February 14: The B-52's make their debut at a party in Athens, Georgia

February 27: Royal Canadian Mounted Police raid Keith Richards' Toronto hotel suite while he is sleeping and seize 22 grams of heroin, 5 grams of cocaine and narcotics paraphernalia. Richards is arrested and charged with possession of heroin with intent to traffic, and possession of cocaine.

April 25: During a concert at the Saginaw, Michigan Civic Center, Elvis Presley makes what would turn out to be the last recordings he would ever make.

July 24: Led Zeppelin perform in Oakland at their last ever concert in the United States.

August 16: Elvis Presley is found dead at his home Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.

October 20: A plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in Mississippi, killing songwriter & vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and background vocalist Cassie Gaines.

December 14: Saturday Night Fever appears in theaters, igniting a new popularity for Disco music.

Here are the 1977 albums I remember getting a lot of exposure at RHS parties:

Aja - Steely Dan
Bat out of Hell - Meat Loaf
Foreigner - Foreigner
I Robot - The Alan Parsons Project
JT - James Taylor
Love Gun - Kiss
My Aim is True - Elvis Costello
Night Moves - Bob Seger
Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
Running on Empty - Jackson Browne
Slowhand - Eric Clapton
Songs of the Wood - Jethro Tull
The Stranger - Billy Joel
Street Survivors - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Terrapin Station - Grateful Dead

Man, that list brings back some memories. I will probably end up dropping a hundred bucks going retro at iTunes tonight.

I dug around my archives and managed to come up with a picture of the aforementioned Paul Ferraro during his Graydon Days.



That's Paul, first row on the far left. How many of these other characters can you name? Here's the best of my recollection:

Back: Dick Flechtner, Jeff Yearing, Don Holsten, Mike O'Hara, Tim Daly, Jan Koper, Jim Livingstone
Middle: Chrissy Wesnofske, Leslie Kersting, Barbara ??, Ann Tarvin
Front: Paul Ferraro, Jim Van-Something?, Harry Shortway, Jon Vinroot, Doug Hendrickson, Your Humble Blogger

Strange Names (North New Jersey's Got 'Em)

Back in the early 80s, while a student at Clemson University in South Carolina, I got into a musician named Steve Forbert, who had a hit with Romeo's Tune. In the intervening years I forgot about him, but recently heard that he has a new song: Strange Names (North New Jersey's Got 'Em):