Halloween

Quiet Halloween. I took my daughter dressed up as Cinderella trick or treating in some nearby neighborhoods.  Didn't appear like as many folks were participating this year as normal. So she brought home a modest amount of candy, but considering she lost a tooth yesterday it probably is just as well. The best part of it all was a chance to spend time with her. Combined with the trip to the pumpkin patch, a Fall Festival, a special movie, and a couple of costume parties I think she had a good Halloween season.

I don't have a bunch of Halloween related articles that I have written. I wrote one about a Ghost tOur in Harpers Ferry. These are fun and a great way to learn about the local history. I also took one in Gettysburg. You can read my Harpers Ferry review here.

I did a review of the vampire movie "Blood and Donuts on Disturbing Films you can read the review here. Hopefully by next Halloween I will have more reviews up. Oh well I hope every one had a great Halloween!

The Sandy Experience

Well the blunt of Sandy has passed. Thankfully no damage here and the power stayed on except for some few minutes of flickering. We made out much better with this storm than we did with last October's snowfall or this summer's Derecho. Any way we are fortunate both the Shenandoah Rivers and Potomac were on the rise today, we live on a big hill. A lot of people in the area lost power we were spared this time. What a year for storms this year I have been through Sandy, Derecho and a Tropical Storm. Some places just a couple hours west of me in the higher elevations got a lot of snow.

Here is a video of the snow in the southern part of West Virginia...

Another video of the snow...

Here is some local coverage from the Hagerstown NBC station...

Safe and sound here. The kids got a couple of days off from school and a two hour delay tomorrow.

San Francisco Giants World Champions

I'm happy the San Francisco Giants won the World Series..I am related by marriage to one of the players so I have a rooting issue and it is nice to watch the game with family. It is fitting the last game went to extra innings and went back and fourth. It was a great reminder of the great October baseball played this season. I am saddened for the Detroit Tigers for being swept. However, they had a great season and a lot to be proud of...I will post some highlights starting with game one..

Game two...

Game three,,

and finally game four..

Now is an interesting part of the year the off season moves, then Spring Training, then a new season will start and we will see who can play Center field...

Last Football Post of October

The end is near.well I hope not with Sandy on the way. However, this is the last football blog post for October. I think I can restrain myself from posting on the subject before the end of the month. Hopefully, the weather will come thru and clear out with out any problems.

Fantasy Football

My team is well on it's way to winning this week.My team could have beaten any team in the league this week which feels better than knowing every team can beat your team. So, I should work my way back in the pack as I even my season record out. It has been fun, since I have been forced to make a lot more moves than I generally do so it isn't all bad.

NFL

I cover the Jacksonville Jaguars and they aren't that good. They did play better today and kept it close with Green Bay. You can read my recap here.

College Football

You can read my new college football rankings here. I have been putting a new poll in the article letting people pick who they think is number one. Thanks for those who participated last week.

It stinks when the team you cover is the team you root for and they lose. Well that happened to me with the Florida Gators and the Georgia Bulldogs. You can read my recap here.I will give Georgia credit the stepped up to the challenge and won the game. Sloppy game for both teams.Here are some highlights from that game:

Then I also covered the BYU-Georgia Tech game. The Cougars beat the Yellow Jackets and you can read my recap here. Here are some highlights from that game...

What a weekend for football all the teams I cover lost. At least there was baseball! Stay safe if you are near the storms and as long as the power is working I will be back with a new post soon!

Rainy Day Music...

A hurricane is brewing in the Atlantic and a storm with a cold front is coming in from the west so much of the east coast of the United States is going to experience a lot of rainy days and in some places snow. I thought I would share an article of 25 rainy day songs so you can start setting up your MP3 setlist. You can read it here.

Here is a song by Deep Purple that wasn't on my list but is perfect for the forecast..

This storm Sandy plans to rock a few people like this...

Hopefully like REO Speedwagon I will be riding the storm out...

Yes it Feels like Rain...

The videos are from songs that were not on my list.I will end it with one more song that is fitting for the new storm. It isn't hurricane season anymore but there is one out there,,,

Well I hope everyone stays safe in the storm...

Washington Nationals 2012 Rewind

What a season by the Washington Nationals! They had the best record in baseball, they had their first winning season, they won their division for the first time, they went to the playoffs for the first time, they had their first twenty game winner and their manager won a well deserved manager of the year award.

I put a list together of ten great moments from this season. You can read my list here. I limited myself to 10, but I am sure in the 167 games the Nationals played this year there are a lot of moments that deserve mentioning. See if you agree with my list, if you have moments you want to share please do so..

Washington's season ended so dramatically too. It was an interesting game to watch and I was rooting for them but the Cardinals come back was just heartbreaking, here is the ending....

This was the best play I have ever seen in person at a baseball game, Bryce Harper stealing home..

I have one more video on my article so check it out. Have fun and I will be blogging on until the storm hits then I might be in Kansas or Oz or somewhere...

Ski Resorts: Mid Atlantic

Hard to believe winter and more importantly ski season is just around the corner as I enjoyed a wonderful Indian Summer day. But to switch gears a bit I thought I would share some articles I have written on ski resorts.

Liberty Mountain Resort

I think I will always call it by it's old name Ski Liberty or just plain Liberty. I wrote a review on this resort that is so close for people living near Washington, D.C. or Baltimore. It was published on Yahoo! Sports and you can read it here.

Below is a fun video with their mascot...

West Virginia

A couple of years ago I wrote a quick article on the four ski resorts in West Virginia. You can read that here. Wow it is hard to believe it has been five years since I wrote this review of Snowshoe which is probably the most popular ski resort in West Virginia. You can read that here.The scenery by the ski resorts in West Virginia are hard to beat, rangoing from the highlands of Snowshoe, the Northern Mountains of Canaan Valley and Timberline, to the Southern Mountains of Winterplace.

Below is a video on Snowshoe...

Wisp

A month after I wrote the Snoeshow review I wrote one about Maryland's only ski resort Wisp. The ski resort staff noticed my article and you can read it here. Below is a video with more info...

Beginners

Three winters back I wrote an article suggesting six resorts for beginner skiers in the Mid Atlantic area. Having skied all six and a bunch more in the area I think it is a pretty good list. You can read it here. Below is a video from Virginia's Bryce Resort...

I think this post along with my articles and the videos might get some people to start thinking snow! The leaves are already falling and soon the flakes will be falling....

Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson

I'm going to be writing a lot this week. Most of it is sports related. Since, I have already blogged about football and baseball this week I thought I would break it up a bit and write about a musical I reviewed. I found out the lead role lost his voice and the show didn't have an understudy. So, I was expecting the worst but I was pleasantly surprised and treated to a stellar performance of Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick, Maryland. You can read my full review here.

Here is a bit of the opening number as done on the Broadway Production...

It poortrays Andrew Jackson in a EMO rock star style. It is not politically correct, sometimes offensive, but interesting, entertaining, thought provoking fun time!

I'll be back soon with another post about something different.what? I am not sure yet.

October Baseball

This has been one of the greatest post seasons for baseball. I could be biased, I do have a family connection to the San Francisco Giants and two local teams to me the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals were in the playoffs as well.

I think it all started on the last day of the regular season when the Oakland A's over took the Texas Rangers to win that division.

Then every divisional series came down to the wire going 5 games...

The New York Yankees beat their division rival Baltimore Orioles 3 games to 2...here are highlights from a game the O's win but the Yankees would win the series

Then the Detroit Tigers eliminated the Oakland A's 3 games to 2. In this series Detroit won the first two, then the A's won 2 before the Tigers won the last one.

Then the St. Louis Cardinals broke the Washington Nationals hearts in game five rallying back from a 5-1 deficit to win the series..

The San Francisco Giants lost the first two games to the Cincinnati Reds and had to win the last three to advance to the Championship series..

Okay the Detroit Tigers swept the New York Yankees to advance to the World Series..

Not much drama in that series.

The St. Louis Cardinals had a 3 game to 1 lead on the Giants but San Francisco won the next three in a row to advance to the World Series..

I'm looking forward to the World Series between the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants, hoping for one more great series in 2012!

Whole Lotta Football

Are you ready for some football?

My Fantasy Football Team

My fantasy football team is going to win this week. I used some of my subs to fill in for the bye vacancies. I also picked up Blaine Gabbert for my second quarterback. He gave me a few points before he left the game.

NFL

He plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars, the NFL team, I cover for Outside the Redzone. Well the Jaguars lost Maurice Jones-Drew early in this game, lost a big lead, and missed a golden opportunity for a victory.You can read my recap here.

Here are some highlights and news on the game from an Oakland perspective..

College Football

My Rankings

Here is a link to my top 25 this week. Take the poll and let me know who should be number one!

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech they came off of a bye week ready to play and they beat Boston College. The Yellow Jackets have a lot of work to do to make it to a bowl game but they are a bit closer. You can read the recap here.Below are some highlights from that game..

Florida Gators

Two articles this week! I'll start with my recap of the Florida Gators 44-11 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks. I really enjoyed watching their special teams and defense. The Gators defense plays like a great unit instead of great stars. Well check out my recap here.

Here are some highlights from that game...

I also wrote an article about their BCS ranking earlier in the week. You can read it here.

I should have some skiing articles, a musical review, and who knows what else coming out this week. So, it should be a good week of blogging. Plus whatever, else I decide to ramble on about.

One Night with Janis Joplin Revisted

Yes I have already blogged about One Night with Janis Joplin which is an incredible show taking place at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. You can read my review here, if you are near D.C. catch the show if not keep an eye out for this one.

Why am I blogging about it again? Well it was that good but the reason I am blogging about it again is due to my editor and friend Joel Markowitz had the opportunity to interview Mary Bridget Davies who pays Janis. He did an awesome job and I wanted to share his interview.

Here is a treat Mary with her own band...

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If you want to find out more about this talented singer check out her website! Here is the real Janis at Woodstock to help you through your day..

Happy Birthday Bob Weir

 Today October 16 is Bob Weir's birthday. He is one of the guitarists for the Grateful Dead. So let's get truckin' with some songs to celebrate his birthday.

Here Bob Weir and Bruce Hornsby perform "Hell in a Bucket" from March 31, 2012...

Here he is with some Grateful friends in a band called Furthur from Wanee 2012..Not Fade Away

Okay that was more now lets go back a bit...Bob weir and Jerry Garcia in 1982 on David Letterman...

and with the Grateful Dead...Birdsong from 1980..

Thanks for the songs and thanks for keeping the music going. Hope you enjoyed a little music break will be back soon with a new post...

Xanadu

Friday night I was able to see the Landless Theatre Production of Xanadu at the Frederick Cultural Center. It was a fun and entertaining show. You can read my review of the show here.

Below is a clip from the movie...

The play had a really talented cast and is worth checking out. I did find out the Frederick Cultural Center is in the process of selling the theatre. I hope a theatre group purchases so it can continue. I have seen plays done their by the Maryland Shakespeare Festival as well so multiple groups have used the site.

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Football

Well this one will be brief. It looks like my fantasy football team will finally be back in the win column! I made a few moves to make up for some of my players who had a bye week.

I usually cover the Jacksonville Jaguars for Outside the Redzone but they were off this week. I also usually cover Georgia Tech but they were off. However, I did cover the Florida Gators at Vanderbilt Commodores football game. You can read my recap here.

Here are some highlights from that game...

My new college football rankings after week seven can be seen here. I have highlights from the Louisiana Tech-Texas A&M game on that site. Oklahoma won the Red River Rivalry game with Texas on Saturday here are some highlights from that game..

So I through in a couple of extra highlights of this weekends football action..

My Sports Poetry

Trying to write a couple of things tonight and they are stalling out a bit. So I will call it a night soon. I wanted to write a blog post and I was drawing blanks there. Well I haven't spotlighted my poetry lately and I did publish a Haiku today. However, I thought I would highlight my poetry with a sports theme..

The first one is "Baseball Seasons." It is really about the journey through the seasons the baseball season takes. Spring training to the postseason. Timely due to baseball's post season going on now.

Basketball season is getting close and before you know it March Madness will be here! I wrote a haiku about that tournament here.

Here is a poem I wrote about participating in ski racing it is called "Going Fast."

Well not much here I will try again...

John Lennon's Birthday

The Presidential Election is coming up in the United States and I have seen so much hate lately. If it isn't hate I have seen groups of people get offended. Heck, I have been offended by a lot of things I have seen. I was going to list the groups I have seen hate directed towards and groups that have been offended. However, I chickened out. I didn't want to offend anyone. I will say it goes beyond Republicans and Democrats. It also goes beyond sports rivalries.

Well today is John Lennon's 72nd Birthday. Yes he has been gone for almost 32 years but I think the timing is right to celebrate his life. Some of his words, songs, might just fit into our lives now.

The song "Imagine"

This one is one of my favorites if not my top John Lennon song.."Instant Karma"

There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving Peace a Chance...

If Instant Karma is not my favorite then this one is...

Happy Birthday John Lennon! Thanks for the songs and thanks for the break from the crazy world we live in. For a few minutes we can think about people in the world living together in harmony, shining on, giving peace a chance, all while watching the wheels go round.

Football

Okay I took a week off from posting about football in here. Don't worry I am back today to do a post on football. If you like my other stuff don't worry I will be back blogging about two more shows and I am hoping to get some other writing done. Plus I will throw in a few surprises i my blog..

Anyway..NFL the Jacksonville Jaguars

You can read my recap of today's game here. If you like the Bears you will love it. If you like the Jags, well they are not providing anything good to write about.The week before they lost to Cincinnati you can read that recap here. Highlights on the earlier game here..

Down a level to college football...

You can read my latest college football rankings here. I have added a poll question to my ranking as well trying to give it a fresh twist.

Florida Gators

The Florida Gators surprised LSU on Saturday. You can read my review here. I think the win helps Will Muschamp's job security. The week before Florida did not play. Here are some highlights from that game...

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech is the other team I cover, they lost this weekend to Clemson. You can read my recap here. Here are some highlights from that game...

The week before Georgia Tech lost to Middle Tennessee State. You can read my recap here as well. I found some highlights from that game as well.

Well I will be back soon with a post about something different...

One Night with Janis Joplin

There is a theater production called One Night with Janis Joplin staring an incredible singer Mary Bridget Davies. It made its world premiere last year at the Portland Center Stage in Oregon and had a successful run at the Cleveland Playhouse. Now it is playing at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. You can read my review here.

Sometimes I blog about death notices, birthdays, and significant dates in music history on here from time to time. However, I did not realize 42 years from the date I went to the show October 4, 1970 Janis Joplin died. It was a weird coincidence.

The singer Mary Bridget Davies is the real deal she has toured with Big Brother and the Holding Company which was Janis Joplin's old band. It was a great show and if you are in D.C. and you like classic rock, blues, and/or Janis Joplin catch the show. If you are not in Washington keep an eye out for the show.

Here is a trailer for the show...

Here she is performing with Big Brother and the Holding Company...

and I will add in the real thing as well...

2012 Nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Hey it is Rocktober so my blog should be heavy with music this month. Let's take a look at the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominations. A few of these should already be inducted., including RUSH...

Deep Purple is another that should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is also a band my wife and I went to see for our first date together...

The Sisters of Rock and Roll Heart are nominated..

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts also was nominated..

and some real classic rock Procol Harum...

Some Blues..Albert King...

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band...

The Meters...

Some more twists with Chic...

Randy Newman...

The Marvellettes...

Kraftwerk...

The great, late Donna Summers...

Diversity is strong this year with Public Enemy...

and N.W.A...

I'm pulling for Deep Purple and RUSH. There are a few more who deserve to be in as well. Who are you pulling for?

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Today Stevie Ray Vaughan would have turned 58 years old. The world will never know what kind of blues and rock we missed out with him being gone the past 22 years. I know I kick my self for not seeing the tour with him and Jeff Beck. It would have been nice to see him in concert proper.

I thought I would post some videos and celebrate him on his birthday. Starting off with my wife's favorite..."Pride and Joy"

Here is one of his excellent covers of Jimi Hendrix here he tackles the beautiful "Little Wing"

Stevie in my opinion was one of the best at playing Hendrix. But he had some great tunes all his own...

Anyway enjoy and I will be back with something new soon...

Pat McGee at the Strathmore

The Concert Hall a the Strathmore in North Bethesda is a really cool venue. It is certainly one of the best in the area, perhaps the country, or the world. Anyway The Pat McGee Band put on a special show Friday night with O'Connell high school students, members from Eddie from Ohio, and the New Potato Caboose. You can read my review here. Here he performs "I Know" from the concert...

One of the coolest things about covering shows or going to shows is listening to opening acts. It is a great way to get introduced to some new music and I was really impressed with the opener Ari Hest hear him perform "Sleep Tonight" below sorry no one posted video on youtube from Friday's show..

It was a good time and I will be back with a new post soon...