The Bills camp was fantastic last night!  Beautiful weather, beautiful women, football, beers and fireworks! What more does a kid (over 21) need?  TO is the show and catches anything thrown near him. I have a good feeling about the Bills this summer, if the offensive line can make things happen. We made it happen post-camp at Thirstys, a quiet little bistro in Pittsford. It was a great primer for this weekend’s fun.  Here’s where you can make it happen:

>>the 33rd annual Park Ave. Fest with over 300 srtists, 1000’s of gorgeous women, beer, house parties all over the Ave. Rock the Buzz!

>>Pumpkin Hook FD Carnival off Hook Rd. in Farmington.  Support the cause.

>>Hamlin Carnival on the west side.

>>Red Wings baseball and Bills camp for sports fun!

>>music from the RPO and Broadway divas at the Pavilion downtown, Jackson Browne Sat and Jason Mraz at CMAC!   Rock the hill in CA.

For the men and women of the military who are better than the Cars and Clunkers program (now defunct) and boring beer summits, thanks for your service. God bless our troops!

After a two hour delay in Atlanta, my father and my niece touched down in Rochester around 7 p.m. last night. It’s good to see both of them. Over the next week I’ll show them everything Rochester has to offer. Pittsford Wegman’s, a cruise on the Canal, the Keith Urban concert, and breakfast at Rikki’s in Fairport are some of the things we have planned. When we got home last night, I served them my infamous taco soup along with cornbread. There we were, my Dad, Isaac, Aubrey, my niece Shannon and me, sitting at the kitchen table. Talking, laughing and sharing a meal. It reminded me of the way it used to be when I was a kid growing up in Baker, MT. For the first time in a very long time, I felt like we were a family once again. What a great way to start what I know is going to be a very fun week. Thanks for reading my blog. I’ll see ya on the radio.

Gotta love New Jersey!  How about the corruption scandal down there where 3 Mayors and 6 rabbis have been busted for stealing and then selling kidneys and fake Gucci bags?  Makes sense doesn’t it?  I mean, you wouldn’t expect high ranking officials or rabbis to carry their stolen kidneys around in a plastic bag, would ya?  Wow, it’s hard to imagine how corrupt Jersey is when Mayors and rabbis are involved in such a wicked bag of body parts! And speaking of which, what’s up with all the Rochester funeral directors and employees who have been implicated in stealing body parts recently? Greed is a strange motivator, isn’t it?  Thank God you can trust this Mayor and my buddy James C. Johnson from the Johnson-Kennedy funeral home in Canandaigua.  No way we’re gettin’ near such crude and strange behavior.

Speaking of strange, I’m going out to get my first glimpse of  Terrell Owens at the Bills training camp tonight at St. John Fisher.  When I say strange, I’m talking about his physique. Seen photos of him? He’s a freak of nature, muscles on top of muscle.  Say what you want about TO causing trouble for his quarterbacks along his tour of the NFL, but the guy takes care of business in the weight room. And he’s never been arrested, which alot of today’s pampered athletes can not say. It will be interesting to check the TO freak show out tonight live.  I’ll report back here tomorrow about it.  

A very touching tribute occured last night at the Rochester International Airport. The body of  Sgt. Stanley Earl Baylor was delivered home, almost 39 years after he was declared missing in action during the Korean War.  “Jigs”, as he was known, enlisted in the US Army back in 1950 and was a 21-year-old corporal with the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment when his unit was knocked off by Communist Chinese soldiers Nov. 2, 1950.  After that horrible night for so many, he was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sgt. and his remains were discovered when North Korea handed over the bodies of fallen US soldiers in the early 90’s.  Last night he finally returned home to a hero’s welcome, with an Army Honor Guard, and a New York State police escort to Warsaw for burial with his parents.  God bless his service, his memory and his return. No family should ever have to wait so long for the return of their personal hero. God bless “Jigs” and all of our troops, fallen or alive!

Went to New York City this past weekend, with a stop out on Long Island in Greenport.  Everything was enjoyable until the final moments on the island.  I was scheduled to fly out of Islip’s Macarthur Airport on an airline that will remain nameless (starts with a U and ends with s).  I arrived 90 minutes before departure, as instructed by the nameless airline.  Upon arrival at the counter, I was told in a very rude tone of voice that my plane was cancelled.  After telling the discourteous airline employee that I needed to get back to Rochester so I could return to my job, she informed me that I would need to take a cab to Laguardia to make the 7:10 Rochester flight.  This was told to me at 6pm.  If you ever tried to get from Long Island via the LIE to Laguardia, you know that is a 1 hour tour with light traffic, yet alone during rush hour in NYC.  I was told this was my only option if I wanted to get back to Roch. Not exactly what I was expecting to hear, especially in the tone of voice from this so called “customer service” rep.  So, off we went in the car, dodging heavy traffic hurtling towards Queens.  Somehow we made it, only to enter the maze known as Laguardia and then be informed that the flight was delayed 3 hours!  Lovely.  Long story short I arrived back in Roch at 12:20am.  I know it was no one from the airlines fault, but the expecations were never met.  Not in the slightest way.  Rude service all the way around, from Islip to Queens.  And it never really seemed that anyone “working” really gave a crap about the inconvienence associated with the entire fiasco.  It was our pleasure to be there apparently.  And they didn’t have any light beer on board or even the tiniest snack. And it costs $20 per bag for my privledge of having a trip ruined. The expectation of a fun trip was completely shot down.  It’s amazing to me why these airlines don’t make money.  Shouldn’t it be our obligation to pay good money for terrible, shoddy service?  Unbelievable.  Thank God that our troops live up to our expectations everyday. We can safely count on our military. God bless our troops.

My 75-year-old Dad and my 20-something niece arrive on Thursday.   They’ll be here for a week.   Here’s a list of things I’ve come up with to keep them entertained in Rochester.   If you want to help me and add to the list, I would greatly appreciate it.   Thanks.

1.  Visit Pittsford Wegman’s

2.  Cruise the Erie Canal

3.  See Keith Urban at BCA

4.  Public Market

5.  Sunday breakfast at Rikki’s in Fairport

Can’t wait to see ya Dad and Shannon.   We’ve got a great week ahead of us.

As I said last week, I find some headlines to stories I find on the internet to be straight up funny. The story may not be, but the headline is. Here’s my top five for our Saturday, July 25th, 2009.

1. Taller Athletes Are Faster (digg.com)

2. Seth Rogen Talks Pube Trimming, Porn Habits (Huffington Post)

3. Cops mace berserk groundhog after it tries to attack them (Obscure Store)

4. Bush barred plan to send troops to Lackawanna – Buffalo News

(Just in case you hadn’t heard… pretty rediculous LOL)

5.Teenage thieves are stealing adult tricycles. It’s the perfect crime because no adult will admit to owning one (Fark)

Remember “Tron?” It was a video game and a feature film back in the 80’s that I recalled not doing well at the box office but sort of becoming a cult classic. Well they are making a second one and it looks pretty cool… Here’s a trailer from Comicon… it’s not great quality but pretty neat…

Life comes at you fast.   Aubrey, my baby girl, turns 14 on Monday.   It’s seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital.   She is growing up to be this beautiful young woman who is wise beyond her years.   I always said if my kids had their mother’s brain and my athletic ability they’d do okay in life.   She’s an excellent student so I can thank her mother for that and she’s a pretty good cheerleader so I feel blessed.

I was terrified when Linda and I divorced on what impact it would have on our kids, especially Aubrey.   I’m here to say she has adjusted very well.    She has a wonderful step father who treats her like one of his own and that’s all I can ask for.    My daughter is very smart, very outgoing and has an incredible sense of humor.   There aren’t too many people in this world who can make me laugh, she is one of them.

Aubrey is entering the 9th grade.   I know the next four years of her life are going to fly by.   There will be highs and some lows.   Regardless, I’ll be here for you and want you to know how much I love you and how you make me proud to be your Dad.    Happy 14th birthday,  Aubrey.   Yes, you will be getting more for your birthday than the Jason Mraz tickets.

I admit publicly to you that I love a good firemen’s carnival in the summertime (if this is actually called “summer” this year)!  There is something really comfortable and fun about a carney, gives you the feeling of the good ‘ol days.  I remember growing up in Canandaigua where we always had a huge carnival every July at the former Red Jacket Park on S. Main St. (now the state boat launch).  Hot dogs, burgers, sausage, the beer tent, pizza, fried dough, cotton candy, creaky old amusement rides, stuffed animals to win, cute girls checking out ugly guys, a parade, waterball tournaments…the fun went on for days.  It really was a highlight for summer fun.  Unfortunately insurance companies got involved and most great fire carnivals faded away due to the costs assocaietd with the insurance policies needed for the carnival run.  Thankfully, some local departments still carry on the fine tradition of bringing their community together for fun and fundraising for their much needed volunteer departments that serve us so well.  Such is the case with two prominent carnivals in town this weekend, one for each side of the city.  On the west side it’s the Hilton Carnival kicking off tonight with the kiddie parade.  On the east side, make sure to join me this evening as I support my good buddies from the East Rochester FD at their annual funfest on the school grounds in ER.  I make sure to always support the local guys as they supply the good times. The ER Parade Saturday night is always a classic at the Connors family estate on Woodbine.  Make sure to get out and support the firefighters and thank them for their service. God bless ‘em all and God bless our troops!

Here’s a picture of me on Cedar Point “Top Thrill Dragster” roller coaster.  This baby has a 400 foot, 90 degree vertical drop that goes 120 MPH!!! As you can see from this picture the G Forces were pretty intense!