Cool Christmas

Christmas has been great - very laid back and smooth.

Spent the weekend before Christmas up in New Hampshire skiing and hanging out by the fire. Dorothy passed on skiing and made a great pot of chili. Brownie loved chasing snowballs and hopping through two feet of snow like a shaggy jack rabbit.

We caught Entrain playing at Flatbread Company while we were up there. Great jam and what a cool spot - giant wood fired pizza oven, huge post and beam room...and just a three minute car ride from the house.

Here's Entrain playing Dancin' in the Light...



We also caught I am Legend at the movies. Will Smith was fantastic. Very interesting movie. Eerie to see New York with no one in it.

We got home on Christmas Eve in time to go to mass and then do our annual tradition - hot dogs cooked over the open fire. Don't ask how that started...but for years it's developed into a much-anticipated rite. The only hot dogs involved are the mini hots in BBQ sauce. Otherwise it's Andouille sausage, Roasted Tomato Chicken Sausages, Teriyaki Ginger sausages, a nice green salad and a vast array of mustards...and this year, fig and onion jam. Mmmmm.

For Christmas the kids got an XBox, Dylan got a MacBook so he could set up a mini sound studio for his music and the whole family got a digital videocam - so look for movies on Chautauqua soon!

Merry Christmas!

Neil

So I don't have many idols. But Neil Young is one of them.

Bob and Mike went to see him at The Orpheum last week. According to them, it was pure heaven as always.

I saw Neil in concert more than 10 years ago and it still remains one of the top 5 concerts of my whole life.

Here's a video from the concert Bob and Mike saw...

Reunions

Reunions are breaking out all over.

The one I wish I had been at was...



But this one would be fun too..

The one

Cabaret

This weekend Marblehead High School is putting on the musical Cabaret. Dylan has a handful of small parts - among them a waiter and a Nazi that beats up one of the main characters. The show was fantastic, and for those that saw last year's play Annie, Ariana Conte again played the lead - filling Liza Minelli's shoes incredibly well for a girl her age.

Here's the write up in the paper.

The play is a powerful statement about the rise of Nazism in pre-war Berlin and was artfully played by the students, many of whom are Jewish. In fact, Jamie Hark's great grandfather and his five sisters were all killed in Nazi concentration camps. Jamie played the lead Nazi. The director, Henry Dembowski did an amazing job bringing these teens through a very intense subject.

The show walked the line well given the adult themes. The girls were amazing...much to the delight of Dylan who enjoyed lots of rehearsals with the Kit Kat girls. Somehow Dylan managed to dodge dressing in drag - the guys that did so as part of the Cabaret show were hysterical. Everyone did great.

Dylan is already looking forward to trying out for the Drama Festival.

New Hampshire

This winter we're renting a ski house just outside of North Conway with Doreen and family. We've never done anything like this before so it feels weird and wonderful all at the same time.

The backyard overlooks Cathedral Ledge, a big rock and ice climbing destination. The house is cozy, but roomy enough. We won't be roughing it one bit.

Drew and I went up there this weekend for the first time. It's pretty great. Looks like we'll be exploring the trails doing a bunch of skiing at Attitash this year! In fact I hear they got a foot of snow last night.

Artiste

When we were back in Rochester for Thanksgiving we saw a great original painting by a hot young, up-and-coming artist. So we bought it on the spot.

The artiste? Our nephew Jon who is working hard at Fredonia State.

Today is Jon's birthday I believe.

Stop on by his blog and wish him a Happy Birthday!

Rat Race Press

Rat Race makes big news...


IGN home page story
Great MTV News article interviewing Rat Race chief writer/comedian Victor Varnado
MTV blog
1up.com

New braces!

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