Friday, July 23, 2010

FOTO Friday


Since this is Foto Friday I want to post just a few pics I took at last years GAIF! This weekend once again is the GAIF-Great American Irish Festival held in Utica, N.Y. It is a great weekend filled with Irish music from Celtic Rock, bagpipes and dancers, to tradition Irish tunes. Here are a few pics of some of my friend who perform.

Our friends The Stoutmen ...

My friends Brain Hyland and Donal O'Shaughnessy


My friend Pat Kane



AND the FANTASTIC Queen of the fiddle Eileen Ivers!!









Let the music begin!!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

In Memory of My Daughter Jodi




July 22, shortly past midnight,

one of the worst days of my life.

I miss you so much Jodi.






Gone To Soon

Like a comet,
Blazing 'cross the evening sky
Gone too soon

Like a rainbow,
Fading in the twinkling of an eye
Gone too soon

Shiny and sparkly,
Splendidly bright
Here one day
Gone one night

Like the loss of sunlight,
On a cloudy afternoon
Gone too soon

Like a castle,
Built upon a sandy beach
Gone too soon

Like a perfect flower,
That is just beyond your reach
Gone too soon

Born to amuse, to inspire, to delight
Here one day
Gone one night

Like a sunset
Dying with the rising of the moon
Gone too soon
Gone too soon
Gone too soon


And think of her as living in the hearts of those she touched...for nothing loved is ever lost and she was loved so much.

love xo mom and dad

For You Jodi .....






Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Jellyfish

As a kid growing up on Long Island (New York), and my father having a boat, I saw vast amounts of jellyfish in both the ocean and the Long Island Sound while sailing. The largest ones were perhaps the size of a Frisbee, but at the time when I saw the larger variety, I was not in the water!!


I have been in the water with smaller variety of jellyfish-about the same size as your favorite Dunkin Donut-but I was never stung luckily enough!
Here are the kind I swam with or use to see on the boat.

However my girlfriend was not as lucky as me! Chris and her hubby Kenny were out sailing on the LI Sound one day and she dove into the water to cool off. Little did she know that right below the surface was a jellyfish out for his "daily food run" and he was not happy about sharing his space with her. So doing what jellyfish sometimes do, he stung her very badly on her torso and leg. When she swam back to the boat and climbed out of the water she thought the pain would ease, but she said, just the opposite happened, the pain intensified. After several minutes of extreme pain and a little trouble breathing, and not being near shore, she asked her husband to help ease the sting .... and .... pee on her!! YES folks, the acid in urine helps release the venom that was injected into the skin through the sting!! (OK any visuals yet????). So being the good husband he was, he obliged. Luckily he had a fair amount of beer that day!! We laughed so hard when they told us the story!! SOOOO the reason for this Blog you ask ....

Today in New Hampshire (Rye Beach) over 100 people were stung by what they think was ONE jellyfish! The lifeguards saw what they thought was a log in the water and went out to retrieve it. "IT" (the log) turned out to be a HUGE jellyfish! I am just happy I never ran into one this big during my swimming days!


If they didn't get ride of the darn thing they could have sold it to the local seafood restaurant which could have made jellyfish strips in soy sauce, sesame oil and chili sauce!!

Friday, July 16, 2010

Foto Friday!

Past photos ... I think you can guess where I was!







Thursday, July 15, 2010

This is AMAZING!

18th-Century Ship Found at Trade Center Site

In the middle of tomorrow, a great ribbed ghost has emerged from a distant yesterday.

On Tuesday morning, workers excavating the site of the underground vehicle security center for the future World Trade Center hit a row of sturdy, upright wood timbers, regularly spaced, sticking out of a briny gray muck flecked with oyster shells.

Obviously, these were more than just remnants of the wooden cribbing used in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to extend the shoreline of Manhattan Island ever farther into the Hudson River. (Lower Manhattan real estate was a precious commodity even then.)

“They were so perfectly contoured that they were clearly part of a ship,” said A. Michael Pappalardo, an archaeologist with the firm AKRF, which is working for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to document historical material uncovered during construction.



By Wednesday, the outlines made it plain: a 30-foot length of a wood-hulled vessel had been discovered about 20 to 30 feet below street level on the World Trade Center site, the first such large-scale archaeological find along the Manhattan waterfront since 1982, when an 18th-century cargo ship came to light at 175 Water Street.

The area under excavation, between Liberty and Cedar Streets, had not been dug out for the original trade center. The vessel, presumably dating from the mid- to late 1700s, was evidently undisturbed more than 200 years.

News of the find spread quickly. Archaeologists and officials hurried to the site, not only because of the magnitude of the discovery but because construction work could not be interrupted and because the timber, no longer safe in its cocoon of ooze, began deteriorating as soon as it was exposed to air.

For that reason, Doug Mackey, the chief regional archaeologist for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, was grateful for the rainfall. “If the sun had been out,” he said, “the wood would already have started to fall apart.”

As other archaeologists scrambled with tape measures over what appeared to be the floor planks of the ship’s lowermost deck, Mr. Mackey said, “We’re trying to record it as quickly as possible and do the analysis later.” All around the skeletal hull, excavation for the security center proceeded, changing the muddy terrain every few minutes.

Romantics may conjure the picture of an elegant schooner passing in sight of the spire of Trinity Church. Professional archaeologists are much more reserved.

They were even careful not to say for certain whether they were looking at the prow or the stern of the vessel, though the fanlike array of beams seemed to suggest that the aft (rear) portion of the ship was exposed. Mr. Pappalardo said the whole vessel may have been two or three times longer than the portion found.

Perhaps the most puzzling and intriguing find was a semicircular metal collar, several feet across, apparently supported on a brick base, built into the hull. Perhaps it was some sort of an oven or steam contraption.

About the farthest Mr. Mackey and Mr. Pappalardo would go in conjecture was to say that the sawed-off beams seemed to indicate that the hull had deliberately been truncated, most likely to be used as landfill material.









A 1797 map shows that the excavation site is close to where Lindsey’s Wharf and Lake’s Wharf once projected into the Hudson. So, no matter how many mysteries now surround the vessel, it may turn out that the ghost even has a name.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Happy 4th of July!!


Fourth of July weekend, beaches, picnics, bar-b-q's, and fireworks, oh, and let us not forget an extra day off from work! These are the thoughts that conjure up in our mind when we think of the 4th of July.

A Memory:

When I think back on my 4th of July memories the first memory that comes to mind was growing up in Hicksville, in the all to familiar Levitt house, the first suburban neighborhoods. On the 4th of July the parents would all get together at one of the houses on the block. More often then not, it was usually dad heading the party along with Herb. I seem to remember lots of beer, and laughter, and hot-dogs. The parents were all good about handing us change to "go play in the traffic" as kids were kindly told! We use to run up to the local deli, pool our money and buy "soap-free" Brillo rolls. We "cleaned" out the store every year (no pun intended)! We would rush home to raid the closets in the house and find the best wire hangers. Then we would unwind the neck of the hanger so it became one long wire. Then very carefully you unrolled one of the Brillo rolls and carefully wove it onto the end of the wire, making a hook at the end so it would not slip off. NEXT YOU LIT IT!! Yes, we also played with matches! You would then spin that wire as fast as you could in a circular motion, flecks of hot steel wool falling and burning your arms, and neck, and hair, but you just kept on spinning, if you were able to hit the ground - just a little you got an extra ground display! All the time the parents would be cheering us on for the best fire circle! I have to sit back and laugh now when I think about it. I just met up with some friends I grew up with and one of the conversations was the 4th and the Brillo rolls! Even as adults we laugh about it still. I think I need to try this and take a picture this year!!


On to an Oddity:


A strange oddity for the 4th of July ...three of the first five American presidents –John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe – all died on Independence Day (Jul. 4). Even stranger: Adams and Jefferson died on the same exact day – July 4, 1826 – precisely 50 years to the date after they both signed the Declaration Of Independence. Also the fourth president, Zachary Taylor, got sick and died from Cholera just five days after attending July 4, 1850, festivities under the hot sun in Washington, D.C. It seems three of our presidents celebrated the 4th by dying on it and celebrating it killed a fourth during the first 60 years of our nation. Hey I think its a great trivia question!!


A Flag:
The flag in this picture was flown over the United States Capital in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 15, 2000, at the request of Honorable Charles Schumer, United States Senator. This flag was flown in honor of my daughter Jodi who passed away in 1997. It was then sent to me. I think Jodi would happy to have her flag hung outside this week-end outside the home that she grew up in.

The Declaration Of Independence:

And Finally The Declaration Of Independence, this is a great little clip ... and I have a question, have you ever read it??? Well listen to this and you can at least say you have heard it!


Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Foto Friday

OK another Foto Friday and another week without blogging ... MY BAD!!! I love to blog, however silly facebook pulls me away day after day ... I need to close the farm down, bury the shovel used for treasure hunting, and mind my business about who is doing what!! OH MY!!! Now what picture should I use!!



I know ... this is my god-daughter who got married on a Yacht two weeks ago that sailed around the harbor in New York City. Look at picture below, she is already dragging her hubby behind her (you can not see him). The handsome looking woman over her shoulder with the blond hair wearing the foster grants (sunglasses) is my best friend for 54 years!!! It was a wonderful day!!