My Date with RockErie

On Sunday August 24th Erie witnessed The RockErie Music Awards 2008.  Between 2,000 and 2,500 people filled the Bayfront Convention Center to watch Erie’s best musicians awarded for their tireless efforts in their different genres.  This was THE place to be on Sunday, let me tell you.

I was asked to present again this year so I made sure to not say something incredibly stupid (unlike last year’s, “I’m not originally from Erie” nonsense).  I was paired up with bassist extraordinaire Frank Furko (of the two-man band Otis) to present the bassist winner.  Frank and I were joined with the lovely Roar on the Shore girls, probably to enhance my non-rockstar appearance.

Here’s a picture of Frank playing his bass on stage:

Frank Furko, Bassist to the Stars

Here’s a shot of the crowd from the podium:

REMA

The show lasted a good three hours with a twenty-minute intermission, preceded by a musical medley of hip hop, vocals, guitar and drum solos and just some good old fashioned rockin’ out.  ‘Twas quite the time!  For a full listing of winners, visit: www.rockeriemusicawards.com.

Thank you Rolling Rock for being my friend during the show .

 

What a Week! (with wine)

I’ve been through some pretty hectic weeks in my day but this one seemed to be right at the top. 

1. George Carlin passed away
2. Craziness at work
3. My brother came home from VA
4. Played golf on a Monday
5. Picked up one of these in Buffalo with my dad.
6. Awoke to this hovering near my house this morning (Awesome).
7. Watched XXX: State of the Union (Not so great, but it happened).
8. Talked to a great friend of mine from RIT that I’ve not seen since 2004.
9. Talked to my buddy at Darien Lake just in time to learn that Orange County Choppers is building them a custom motorcycle.  Then watched American Chopper on Thursday night to watch the bike be built (Double Awesome).

Those are only nine things I can remember from the past couple days.  I interned at Darien Lake when Six Flags owned it so that was the highlight of my week probably.  Also, it’s not everyday you see a Korean War-era helicopter flying around your neighborhood when you awake.  The Millcreek Mall was having some pretty heavy A/C units airlifted to their rooftop as part of their renovation.  What a fantastic way to start out the day for an aircraft buff like myself.  (Did I just call myself buff?  Yeah I did.)

Pretty good blog entry this time right?  Ha! Next time I’ll leave the wine until after the post.  Enjoy your week.

 

 

Erie scores another semi-pro team

The National Basketball Development League is coming to Erie in November, 2008.  Erie will serve as the farm team for the Cleveland Cavaliers, grooming players to be injected directly into the NBA.  Tullio Arena is going to be one really busy place during that time.  The NBDL team will have to compete with the Otters and River Rats for floor space.  This also means more sporting choices for Erie residents, something I’m particularly pleased about.  The league is currently comprised of about 16 teams and and a 50-game season.

 I’ve been a basketball fan for a very long time.  I followed the Knicks when Ewing and Starks played against Hakeem Olaijuwon(sp?) in the Finals.  Now look at the Knicks…oye.  Maybe I could try out for this new team and learn to dunk?  Oh wait, I can’t jump very high.

I’ll be more likely to go see some quality basketball in downtown Erie – I think there’s a different level of competition that happens during the game when you compare it to indoor football or hockey.  Basketball seems a lot faster, fans can sit right on the court (typically) and you can support or taunt players more easily with the close proximity to the game.  More points, more action, more fans and admissions…hopefully?

The team name hasn’t been decided upon yet – I’m sure it’s a fairly long and drawn-out process of choosing a team name.  No doubt the process was involving for the Otters, Seawolves and River Rats!  I’m still trying to figure out how River Rats was the winner despite the team’s transfer.  Maybe we could be the Erie Tropics!

In any case I’ll enjoy seeing some quality basketball downtown!

 

Fill your tank for $1.44! (In Caracas)

Go to Europe.  Today I saw the price of 87 unleaded was $3.31 at the Country Fair around the corner.  Imagine paying double for that, because that’s what people in Europe have to pay. 

I know this article is from a while ago but it still paints a pretty decent picture for you.  Perhaps you’d like to move to Venezuela where gasoline is a mere $0.12!  I could fill my tank for $1.44!!  But do you really want to live in Caracas?

I last filled my gas tank for $35.00, my wife recently spent $39.00.  We just learned to cut back a little in other areas – you’ve heard this story before.  We cut out a couple unnecessary things like going out to dinner or renting movies at Blockbuster (Have you used a Redbox?  Fantastic!)

On the opposite side of the economic coin, Europe pays through the nose for fuel because of the massive amounts of taxes levied on fuel.  Many Europeans drive around town via motorbike, compact cars or public transportation. 

Here in Erie, public transit is seldom looked upon as a respectable means of travel.  There’s an odd stigma about riding the EMTA bus in Erie versus riding the Metro in D.C., or the T in Boston.  During the day, I can easily catch the EMTA Bayliner Trolley and hitch a ride to the Bayfront or Marketplace Grill. 

I won’t be relinquishing the use of my car though, that’s for sure.  I love driving too much.  Maybe it’s time for a 75mpg motorcycle??

 

YouTube + Erie = ErieTube!

Have you seen this site?  www.erietube.com.  No? 

Better yet, post a video from your camera-phone. 

Now this is some funny stuff man:

http://www.erietube.com/kickapps/service/displayMediaPlayPage.kickAction?mediaType=VIDEO&mediaId=130436&as=3766
 This proves why Erie (and the surrounding townships) is such a great place to live.  Where else can you see something so COOL?  Nowhere, that’s where.  There’s also a really cool video of a guy surfing in Lake Erie during the winter.

 

2007’s List of Cool Stuff According to Me

You find all kinds of “Best Of” lists at the end of each calendar year.  I compiled my list consisting of eleven (not ten) different things I thought were cool in 2007 in no particular order.  Well, I guess it’s the order that I remembered them if that counts:

 1.  Our first house.  It’s great to have a place that’s finally “ours”.  I was getting really tired of off-white walls everywhere.

2.  Old friends reunion.  I met up with some friends I haven’t seen in eight years recently and it was just like old times.  Thank goodness to myspace and facebook.

3.  Found a new watering hole.  Many thanks to Chris Sirianni and his crew for making some excellent beer at The BrewErie at Union Station.  My favorite entree is the ‘Train Wreck’ and my favorite brew: a Blondie.

4.  My brother is engaged!  He found a fantastic girl that makes him incredibly happy.  I can’t wait to embarass the hell out of him during the best man’s speech.

5.  Bye bye stupid debt.  Yeah you heard me, I finally got my head screwed on the right way.  One word eluded me for a long time: BUDGET.

6.  The Boston Celtics are back!  After the best start in who knows how long, I have a reason to watch the NBA again.

7.  Made more money than last year.  Always a good thing

8.  The iPhone.  They’re in Erie now.  Keep your hanky close to continually wipe your fingerprints off it.

9.  The Patriots went 16-0.  Real fans follow teams that dissapoint, like the Bills or the Browns.  I hope the Patriots can handle the mounting pressure of perfection though.

10.  Transformers, the Movie.  My boyhood toys come to life, $321 million worldwide and hopefully a sequel.  I was sad when Jazz died though.  Just wait until the G.I. Joe movie!

11.  Motorcycle license!  I’m hell on wheels…without the wheels.

Enjoy a happy and safe New Year!  See you in 2008.

 

Bye Bye Registration, Hello Search!

Part 1: Teach an old dog new tricks.

I’m a frequent GoErie.com visitor.  I’d say in any given week, I visit the site eighteen to twenty-five times.  I always want to see what’s the breaking news, local sports headlines and the blogs of local writers. One thing is different these days, I’m able to link to stories from outside the site.

Due to a prohibitive registration process, visitors were never allowed to link to stories directly.  The action was meant to learn information about GoErie.com visitors so the company could better serve it’s consumers.  Now I can say, “Hey Peter, check out this story about the Bills, they are finally on the right road.”  Or, “Dude, Dear Abby talks about being naked.” 

Now you can pass the article link to your friends and family like you’ve always wanted!  There’s still the social bookmarking tools at the bottom of each story of course, or you could e-mail it right to your friend in SoCal from the article. 

Link on my friend, link on.

Part 2: Search until the cows come home.

One more thing about GoErie.com that I recently started using quite a bit.  A global search engine is available at the top of every page.  Try some sample search terms why don’t ya?  Looking for a pizza shop close to your apartment, a landscaper maybe?  The comprehensiveness of the yellow pages is now bolted directly to the expansive GoErie.com and all it’s components.

Perform a search for ‘Honda’.  You’ll find Honda cars and motorcycles for sale in Classifieds, an article about Bianchi Honda’s grand opening in the Archives, an obituary of a gentleman who sold Hondas for a living…and the list goes on.

Get your search on.  It’ll save you some major time…it did for me.

 

Holy heat, Batman

Typically Erie, PA doesn’t have the worst weather in the country.  You may agree or disagree with that statement depending on your preference.

In the middle of summer people complain it’s too hot and just the opposite in the winter.  Right now it’s 83 degrees outside and I’ve shut myself into the only air-conditioned space in the house, my bedroom. 

What the heck do you do in your bedroom all evening? 

1. Watch Harry Potter.  Always interesting, but not as interesting as the books.

2. Watch HGTV.  Yeah I’m getting old when all I watch is ‘Home & Garden Television’.

3. Blog. (Obviously).

4. Spend quality time with your significant other!  Yeah my wife’s been at my side since I arrived home, both of us hunkering down in AC-heaven until bedtime.  We even ate dinner in the bedroom – something I don’t recommend.  It’s worth the company though

So I’m not complaining about the heat really, I actually don’t mind it.  It is nice to just kick back in the temperature-controlled bedroom for a while and not do anything productive.  Everyone has to work that angle at some point right?  My brother and his girlfriend just moved to Virginia and I swear any location South of the Mason-Dixon line increases the thermometer 10-degrees automatically.  Their first weekend there it was 98.  My friend Carla in Las Vegas has endured 110-degrees all week.

 Erie’s not that bad.  Stay cool.

 

End of summer, start of blog.

My first blog post and I’m sitting here with my fingers on the keys going, “ummm, uhhh”. 

So here goes…

I’ll put it right out there, I’m no professional writer.  In fact, this is the only time I’ll ever put my thoughts down…EVER.  That could be good or very bad depending on which psychotherapist you know.

I work in downtown Erie for a respected and well-known media company.  We’ve done some crazy stuff in the past and we’ll continue down that road if I have anything to say about it.  I’ll enjoy networking with other downtown-ers as I walk to the nearest Thursday block party!

I call Erie the small town that thinks it’s really big.  Like any decent-sized metro it has it’s problems, although Mayor Sinnott says the City is going to finish the year in the black.  Crime is minimal compared to cities of equal population.  The cost of living is low…hell, I just bought my first house for 10 bucks more than my rent payment! 

I continually and religiously check GoErie.com.  Not because I hate the newspaper, but because I’m able to stay updated on all local happenings throughout my workday.  Talk about white collar crime.  If it were really a crime, I’d be sentenced to life in prison!

I’m good friends with the organizers of GlobalErie, among other local bloggers.  Keep checking my BlogRoll for all my new friends.  This time there won’t be any gym class heroes at my lunchtable like in high school.

So post #1 out of the way.  Hopefully I won’t be sitting here all the time thinking, “You’re already a dork, just don’t write like one”.  Keep checking back because I’ll get better and better.