Hope you enjoy your extra hour of partying this weekend!  Yes, don’t forget to change your clock back at 2am Sunday morning.  Whoever came up with this idea years ago to set the clocks at 2am must have been a boozer so they could get another hour under their belt.  It’s a little spooky that the changeover occurs on Halloween night.  Like we need another hour of stupidity on this night!  It doesn’t happen very often so live large and leave somebody in charge of the wheel.

Here’s a cute idea for a Halloween costume. While scanning the tube for the World Series pre-game last night, I stumbled upon Entertainment Tonight. Mary Hart is still there doing celebrity interviews.  Her chit-chat Thursday night was with Chastity Bono….I mean Chaz Bono.  You see Sonny and Cher’s adorable little girl from their glory days on TV has grown up to become a……man named Chaz.  sHE has udergone a sex change. Or, as Mary Hart now calls it “a gender re-assignment’!  Gender re-assignment?  Who re-assigned those parts?  Chaz has been taking hormone shots since March, had her/his breasts removed and has quite the husky voice now. Hey, whatever trips your trigger tiger.  Just remember when you open your door Saturday night, if you hear a deep throated TRICK OR TREAT, you never know who/what could be standing in front of you and what’s under that costume.  Happy Halloweeny.

To those much less freaky amongst us, let’s remember our troops this weekend who everyday face real threats and spooky situations.  We been losing too many of our courageous military this week.  God bless our troops in harm’s way.

Good jazz often hits me like a cool blast of eucalyptus: it gets the flow flowing, the go going, and the going gone. Drummer Harris Eisenstadt and Canada Day served up a slinky, sultry groove in the Bop Shop Atrium last night. It was just the right mix of exploratory impishness and accessibility. The quintet swung beat, it swung sweet, it swung alreet. Its casual cadence presented room for those who wanted to take a ride, even though the destination was everywhere, man. I dug these cats deep.

Folks in the know may recognize Eisenstadt from his work with artists like Roy Campbell, Taylor Ho Bynum, and Paul Smoker, and in The Diplomats with trombonists Steve Swell and Rob Brown. I’ll be honest, walking in to the joint last night I knew little about the group, by pied proprietor Tom Kohn lured me in earlier that afternoon with phrases like “Early ’60s Blue Note stuff.”
The man was right and the band was righteous. It would’ve been nice to see you there…

Thanks to my listeners in the southern tier who listen to us on-line here @ rochesterbuzz.com.  They tipped me off Thursday to the big fire in Alfred, displacing 13 students.  No worries though cuz the liquor store was saved!  Firefighters do have their priorities!  Luckily no one was injured thanks to those smoke eaters doing their jobs.  I had reports on the Buzz throughout my show, and here’s the full scoop courstesy of the local paper down in Alfred. www.eveningtribune.com.   I love how our listeners are spread all over the globe and y’all keep me updated on what’s happening while you’re tuned into the Buzz. I think this internet thing is gonna stick around for awhile…

While we’re at it, can the Octomom please fade away? Have you seen her Halloween family photo.  I won’t display it here cuz I’m sick of her 15 minutes of fame.  She dressed herself up as a pregnant nun and her 8 kids as little devils. How cute, huh?   What’s the over/under on how many years of therapy those poor kids are going to be subjected to?

Yankees really need a win tonight, don’t they?  I watched the whole game last night and pitcher Cliff Lee from the Phillies was in total command, and just needed the help of Chase Utley’s two homers to take the advantage in the World Series 1-0.  After tonight, the next 3 games shift to Philly so the Yanks better pull it out or many fans will take the pipe (A*Rod, you listening while you’re playing with Kate Hudson?).  And kids, a little tip from your boy Mayor: STAY OFF THE PIPE!  Do the right thing, be courageous.  Like our military. We lost more soldiers yesterday in Afghanistan, more families grieving today.  God bless our troops.

Check it out! Jim and his brother shot themselves a couple of fine lookin’ bucks…

For Halloween…

In case you haven’t heard, millions of people tuned into YouTube on Sunday night for a U2 show.  It was the first time an entire concert was shown live on the site. In case you missed it, here you go!

I had the extreme honor to be invited to be on the dais for the 52nd Fall Guy Show Charity Roast Dinner honoring Rich Funke from News 10NBC Mon. night at the Rochester Plaza Hotel. This is an annual tradition sponsored by the Saints and Sinners Club, a fund raiser for the Dream Factory of Roch. that fulfills dreams for kids ages 3 through 18 who have been diagnosed with critical or chronic illnesses.  It really was an honor for me to join the head table as we hurled insults towards the legendary sportscaster/newsman. Rich is a very good sport who endured a few hours of hell with verbal warfare lobbed by Don Alhart and Doug Emblidge of Channel 13, Brother Wease, Steve Hausmann from WBEE, Dan Mason from the Red Wings GM office, Pat McGonigle from News10 and myself.  It was a great night of laughs, all for the tremendous work done by the Dream Factory.  Rich and his wife Pat ooooooze class and are a well deserving couple to be honored for all they do for our area. I thank everybody from Saints and Sinners for letting me be part of it, Rich for inviting me, and all in the audience who had to put up with me on the mic.  God bless Rich for his charity work and God bless our troops.

Here’s pictures from the semi-pro game Saturday at Edgerton Park, where a player for the Western New York Cougars attacked a referee named Pete McCabe (from Lakeville, NY) with his helmet, snapping off the ref’s nose.

It was a picture-perfect scene at Abilene Bar and Lounge Sunday night: five or six chairs inched up close to the performers in a circle, with some eerie candlelight, a packed house, and some gritty, straight-up folk coming from the stage. Real folk is played less like a song and more like a story, and singer Danny Schmidt stole the night with a series of compelling narratives sung straight from his chest.

The evening began with opener Greg Cunningham, a local singer with a gentle, Michael Stipe type of calm to his voice. The singer’s set started with a gentle acoustic vibe and random bursts of harmonica. Cunningham, a witty and down-to-earth type, kindly told the audience to “drink lots, I sound much better when you’re drunk.”
Cunningham’s best tune of the night came second in the set: Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.” The audience felt the vibe and sang along. Cunningham widened the range of his set with a ballad halfway through. The ease of his voice matched the intimate lyrics — it was a subtle and well devised performance.

When I think of genuine folk, I think of a guy like Danny Schmidt. He brings his soul to the stage with him, and he seems to leave it there when he goes. He spends most of his set eyes closed, knees swaying, with his thoughts visibly off somewhere else. His style weaves in and out of a bluegrass/folk with a subtle dash of country twang. His poetry hits you first and his music hits you last, almost as an afterthought. His songs talk to you with elegance, narrowing in on the things we do not take time out to feel.

A majority of the songs carried several verses, each extensive but ending abruptly, with a repetitious, soft melody. The tunes came more like monologues, setting a scene and taking a comprehensive approach, nearly exhausting you if you let your mind travel along. His voice was fittingly simple to match the complexity of the lyrics and instrumentation. A few of the audience members seemed caught and embedded in the big picture of his work. Schmidt managed to engage and silence the entire crowd by the close of his set.