Fried Dough

Haven't been blogging for some time - since discovering Facebook, where you will find me daily. Sorry blogosphere!

OK - Thought of posting this to Facebook this morning, but it is too long a story, so here goes:

Took Jake to Water Country yesterday morning. Upon leaving he requests fried dough. Being the pushover I am, I agree, but the guy at the fried dough stand says, "sorry - we don't open for another hour." WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? Doesn't everyone want fried dough at 10:30 a.m.? I say to Jake (who wants to stand there and wait for an hour), "dude - I'll make you some fried dough at home." Agreed and we're off.

Later that day I pick up some frozen bread dough, a bottle of vegetable oil and a bag of confectioners sugar at Hannaford. The plan is going well. We all get home for dinner and I sit the bag of frozen dough - five loaves, each rock solid frozen and pretty small - on the kitchen counter to thaw. Don't open the bag, just sit it there on the counter. We have dinner. I load and run the dishwasher. I head to rehearsal - the kids home with the sitter for the evening.

I get home around 9:30 p.m. The location on the counter where I sat the bag of dough is right over the dishwasher - can get a bit warm (hot) when the dishwasher runs, right? What was five loaves sitting loosely in a big plastic bag is now a giant dough ball, the bag now like a balloon filled with dough instead of helium. OMG - I should put that in the fridge for tomorrow. I put it on the bottom shelf and go to bed for the night.

Wake up this morning, go to the fridge for milk for the kids cereal. Boy, that bag on the bottom shelf seems a little bigger now. I pull it out and immediately notice that the bag has burst and there is almost as much dough outside the bag as there is inside, the bag still stretched to its limits. Damn - must do something immediately before this turns into the film "The Blob".

Solution - fried dough for breakfast. Oh yeah, I just became the coolest dad on the block. And I learned how to separate frozen loaves and thaw them one at a time in a controlled environment along the way...

I'm back

Most of the past month has been an enormous push to Friday night's Spring Fever for the Arts - which was an overwhelming success! Needless to say, it left me with no time to blog, and for that I apologize. I plan to be back on the blogging wagon this week, so look for more web antics in the days to come.

Today I head to Boston with the family to D2E:Down 2 Earth, a huge sustainability fair that was co-founded by my sister, Lori. It is at the Hynes Convention Center in the heart of Boston and we are really looking forward to it. I'll take notes so I have plenty to report here tomorrow. Should be AMAZING.

For now, a few Broadway tidbits:

Did you know that Bono and The Edge are composing a new musical based on Spiderman (yes, the superhero) that debuts in NYC in February 2010?

Green Day is also heading to the stage with a musical adaptation of American Idiot.

We recently saw Coraline at the movies - it too is being adapted into a musical with music by a member of the Magnetic Fields.

And finally, a personal favorite, Amanda Palmer, is producing a play based on Neutral Milk Hotel's In an Aeroplane Over The Sea at her alma mater, Lexington High School. Don't know if I'll be able to get to this, since tickets are supposedly hard to come by, but don't be surprised if I manage to find a way to go see it!

Done

The Poo Poo Platters handed in their CD at RPM Central (the offices of The Wire newspaper) this afternoon at approximately 3:30 pm. We ran into George on our way in - he had just dropped off his CD. Congrats to George and all the others who completed this year's challenge. I, unfortunately, never found the time to record. I take solace in the fact that I make my living as a musician/educator, so I get to make music every day.

The new CD is titled "Devil's Beat" and the tracks are as follows:

1. Disco Devil
2. Knights and Kings
3. Devil's Beat
4. The Bird Keeps Crying
5. Vanity Fair
6. Brazil
7. Splat
8. Flags of the World
9. Drum Beat
10. Funkin' It 2000
11. Shoot Me
12. August
13. Jam/Those Girls
14. Dad Says Homework, I Say Rock

Two of the tracks are up at www.myspace.com/thepoopooplatters. The boys wrote all of the songs themselves. The only title they didn't come up with on their own is "Dad Says Homework, I Say Rock", which was the winning title in a title contest they had on the RPM website discussion board. It was another amazing February of bonding with the boys and recording their music. Hard to believe this is the third straight year we've done this. Awesome.

The New Poo Poo Platters Logos

Here are the new Poo Poo Platters logos. The first logo was designed by Max (age 11 when he designed it) but it was tidied up and made into reality by my sister Ruth. It is based on the initials TPPP. The second logo is a caricature of the boys by Ruth's boyfriend, Lou.

Making the leap to an iPod

I've never owned an iPod, until Katie bought me one this week for my birthday. Don't get me wrong - I've owned mp3 players for the past 5-10 years - mostly Creative Zen media players. I carry my music with me everywhere. But I'd resisted owning an iPod because iTunes does not offer a subscription service. I've been waiting for another company to design a device to rival the iPod, allowing me to purchase a great device and access the Napster To Go subscription library (unlimited downloads to your mp3 player for a small montly fee). Napster To Go has been great for my teaching, since I've been able to download any recording and play them for my students, without having to go out and buy the CD. This is great for teaching jazz tunes, when you want your student to hear ten different versions of "Autumn Leaves" (all of them classics) without having to seek out and purchase ten different CDs. This is where iTunes falls behind, and why I hope it will one day be a subscription service. When that happens, music listening will explode, as people will be able to access millions of recordings for a small monthly fee. That, in my opinion, is the future.

For now, I am going through the wonderful journey of populating my new iPod with my music library. I've been collecting CDs for over 20 years. Since I am a musician by profession, my guess is that my collection is larger than that of the average person - though maybe not as impressive as many music enthusiasts. So far I've loaded about 75 CDs onto my device and I'm just scratching the surface of its memory capabilities. This is a good thing, since I have several hundred more to add.

I find myself rediscovering music. Things I've not listened to in ages. And I'm finding misplaced CDs. The treasure of this morning was discovering Michael Brecker's "Pilgrimage" inside the case for the Debussy and Ravel String Quartets. I've been looking for that CD for over a year! As I type this, I am loading Ornette Coleman's Pulitzer Prize winning CD "Sound Grammar". Next up, Glenn Gould's recording of Bach's "Goldberg Variations" - the 1955 recording. As a music lover, this is downright exciting.

Of course, the newness of the whole deal will pass - but I will, for the very first time, have nearly my entire CD collection in the palm of my hand. This is very cool. I highly recommend it.

RPM Status Report

It is February 22nd, and the boys are about half-way done with their RPM CD. I have yet to start. It's been a busy month at work, so I'm behind scheudle. But, knock on wood, I've yet to get sick this month, even with the flu begin passed around the school. It is very convenient that this week is school vacation, so my hope is that during these last seven days of February, I can create my RPM CD. The Boys will be done today or tomorrow.

Yesterday Chip and Mickey from Shagbark came to record a tune with the boys. It was a good session, and Mickey is coming back today to finish up the vocal track. My hope is that the boys can lay down another four or five tracks today and almost finish thier CD (they have six of 14 tracks laid down).

It should be a busy week.

GET GREEN!

My sister Lori is the co-founder of D2E (Down To Earth), a green, sustainability fair held annually in Boston. Our whole family went down last year to the event to support her. This year we'll be going not because of her, but because it is AMAZING. I got turned on to so many green products from environmentally conscious businesses - not schlock, but practical things that replace what I already know and love with a better, environmenatally friendly alternative. Favorite finds from 2008 - LUSH soaps, Shootflying Hill Sauces (amazing butterscotch ice cream topping!), and 360 Vodka (NOT FOR THE KIDS!). The video below gives a cool overview of the event, which is the first weekend in April. (Go on Saturday or Sunday after attending Friday, April 3rd's Spring Fever for the Arts, benefitting PMAC!)

Movie Recommendation

I took Katie out on a Valentine's date this afternoon - lunch and a movie, and a little shopping excursion. We ended up celebrating during the day as opposed to tonight because our regular sitter has a big Valentine's date tonight.

We went to see Slumdog Millionaire out in Newington and really, really enjoyed the movie. A deeply moving story, with a compelling narrative. I'm not sure if it should be the best picture of 2008, but is certainly one of the best of the year. If you haven't seen it, it is definitely worth it.

New Poo Poo Platters Video

Last week, when Max and Jake recorded their first RPM Challenge song of 2009, I filmed the session with their Flip Video Camera. Here is a video I put together from the recording sesson. Enjoy!

Knights and Kings

The first track of the new Poo Poo Platters album is up on their MySpace Music Page. Check it out.

In the car this morning

On the way to elementary school at 8:30 am - it is very cold and there is still a lot of snow on the ground....

Me: You look cold - where are your gloves?
My 10 year old son: I don't know.
Me: Did you leave them at school?
Son: I don't know.
Me: I guess I'll have to e-mail your teacher and let her know you need to stay inside during recess.
Son: Wait...let me check here (unzips the outer pocket of his backpack)...oh, here they are! (seems genuinely surprised - pretty good acting job)

I'm going to be in big trouble when the things he values most aren't as innocent as elementary school recess...

February is already CRAZY!!!

Been oh-so-busy the past few days, without time to post. For those interested in the dymanic duo of Max and Jake (my sons), aka The Poo Poo Platters, check out their latest tune, recorded just this Sunday, Feb. 1, for the RPM Challenge. It is called Knights and Kings and is the first track on their MySpace Music page here.

My brother and sister-in-law's photography

I hope my brother Matt and sister-in-law Enna will forgive me for lifting this amazing photo from thier blog - it is a picture from a bar in Anguilla where they watched Obama's inauguration. After all, I'm posting it here to tell all of you what wonderful photographers they are, and to go check out their work. I'm a very proud big brother. And this is an amazing picture of an even more amazing moment.

Yes, I actually did this and I'm going to tell you...

It's a bit embarassing. Our family went to the movies today with another family, close friends. "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler - not much to report there. Afterwards we all decided to go bowling. I took our car with all the kids and my friend (the husband) and my wife went in their car with our friend (the wife). When I got to my car I couldn't unlock any door. It was FREEZING out. Frozen locks. Lucky for cell phones. I called my wife to come to the rescue. We brought the kids into a local restaurant, out of the cold while we waited for them to return. When the wives returned with lock de-icer I discovered, much to my embarassment that my locks were not frozen. Since my car was actually about six parking spaces down the aisle from the identical make and model that I was trying to get into. Happy New Year.

p.s.- My wife and I first met in our college parking lot in 1989 as I tried to get into my car in which my keys were inadvertantly locked. Yes, she is very understanding.

Game One

One down, three to go. Go Sox!

Fourteen Wonderful Years

Katie and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary yesterday with a much needed night out. We shopped downtown, had a fabulous dinner at Cafe Medditeraneo and then caught the latest Harry Potter flick. It was a wonderful evening. She is as beautiful as ever. I am looking forward to the next fourteen - no, fifty-plus years!

An Afternoon of Disc Golf

This afternoon, my two sons and I hit the disc golf course in Dover and had a great time. Before I get to the scoring, I have to say that it was my most consistant and probrably best round of my life. I was getting good distance on my drives and most of my shots were going where I intended. And the boys played wonderfully. Jake actually would have beat Max if he had been a little more patient with his close putts. He'll figure it out soon and I predict that Max will have a hard time keeping up with his little brother on the course. Heck, I'll have a hard time keeping up with both of them soon.

We had to start on the 4th hole because the bridge at the course had been knocked out in last week's storms (see photo below). We played holes 4 through 18 and then finished with the first three holes.

I drove from the blue T's (farthest from the hole) and the boys drove from the white T's, with the exception of the eighth hole, which they drove from the blue T and the 16th, where the blue and white are at the same spot. We all Tee'd off on the first hole from the white tee because the bridge, as I said, was washed out, preventing me from Teeing off from my usual spot. First a few pictures and then the scores.

Our Scores:

Hole Four Jake: 6, Max: 7, Dad: 4

Hole Five Jake: 5, Max: 6, Dad: 4

Hole Six Jake: 4, Max: 4, Dad: 4

Hole Seven Jake: 6, Max: 4, Dad: 4

Hole Eight Jake: 6, Max: 5, Dad: 4

Hole Nine Jake: 8, Max: 6, Dad: 4*

Hole Ten Jake: 7, Max: 6, Dad: 4

Hole Eleven Jake: 4, Max: 4, Dad: 6*

Hole Twelve Jake: 6, Max: 6, Dad: 3!

Hole Thirteen Jake: 8, Max: 8, Dad: 6

Hole Fourteen Jake: 4, Max: 4, Dad: 4

Hole Fifteen Jake: 3!, Max: 6, Dad: 4

Hole Sixteen Jake: 7, Max: 8, Dad: 4

Hole Seventeen Jake: 7, Max: 6, Dad: 6

Hole Eighteen Jake: 5, Max: 6, Dad: 4

Hole One Jake: 4, Max: 5, Dad: 4

Hole Two Jake: 7, Max: 5, Dad: 4

Hole Three Jake: 7, Max: 5, Dad: 6

Round Totals: Jake: 105, Max: 102, Dad: 80

Great weather means one thing...

...it's time to play more disc golf!

Over the past year I've become an avid disc golf player. And after playing on and off throughout the winter months, whenever warm enough weather appeared (over 30 degrees F.) and there was enough ground not covered by snow, the warm weather has returned and I'm hoping we've seen the last of the snow. That means returning to the course for regular games (at least once each week).

It took a lot of convincing for my friend Bryan, also a PMAC board member, to get me out on the course last year. But ever since that first round, I've been hooked. Earlier this month I took my two sons out for their first round and we had a great time. They've been begging to go back, and I'm planning on taking them this week. Below is a picture of Max driving off the eighth hole at the course I play in Dover. His brother Jake watches on and the white circle is the disc he has just launched.

My Luggage is Finally Home

After nearly three weeks, I saw my suitcase for the first time since checking it as I departed Boston for the Qatar trip. It smells of smoke and gas fumes, but doesn't seem to be permanently damaged. I have my belongings back. And Katie finally got her Christmas gift, on January 12th!

A courier for British Airways called on Thursday night and said my suitcase would be delivered after midnight - is there a safe place it could be left? I had them leave it on the back porch, where I retrieved it the following morning at 6 a.m., wrapped in plastic. I love how they snuck in under the dark of night to leave it outside as I slept. Clever.

London Photos

I've been meaning to write about the London leg of our trip, but this week was a bit crazy. Nothing like jumping back into the fray. But we're all glad to be home and living the life we love. Here are some photos from our London excursion.

Big Ben with the London Eye in the distance.

The kids loved the double-decker buses.

On the day we arrived, one of our first stops was the Museum of Natural History. The boys wanted to go after seeing the movie, "Night in a Museum".

The dinosaur exhibit was a big hit with the kids. The lifesize anamatronic T-Rex was impressive.

Jake insisted on seeing the bug exhibit!

Here I am with a monkey sculpture. Katie makes fun of me because I always wanted a pet monkey as a kid. Don't all boys have that dream?

There were many street musicians in the London Underground. Here's a sax player we happened upon.

Katie was the driving force behind getting us to the Royal College of Music. Unfortunately they were closed for the break. The guard refused to let me in, even after I explained that I'm a famous American musician. (I don't think he thought it was funny.) Maybe next time.

On our second day we went sightseeing to Big Ben and Parliment.

And we checked out Westminster Abbey.

Jake saved his watermelon seeds from the breakfast buffet at the hotel and wanted to plant them in a park.

By next summer there should be watermelons growing behind Parliment!

We also visited the British Museum.

The ceiling design in the museum is stunning.

Here Max points out some hieroglyphics to his grandfather.

He pointed out the electric guitar with two amps carved into this 5,000 year old crypt.

Katie couldn't pass up this photo op.

And my very own hotel. We'll have to stay here next time.

After the museum it was off to Harrods for some shopping.

On our final day we rode the London Eye, a giant, enclosed ferris wheel that towers over the city.

Here the boys look down over the city.

And the whole family reflects on a wonderful trip as we ride the London Eye!