Steelyard "Sugartooth" McDan

That's the name of the wonderful summer tour featuring Steely Dan and Michael McDonald. We caught them on a beautiful August evening at the Tweeter Center amphitheater on the Camden Riverfront.

The show opened with Michael McDonald doing a long set that combined many Doobie Brothers hits, along with Motown covers that he has featured on his last two CDs. McDonald's voice was in great form belting out Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson tunes, accompanied by a strong backing band that included a terrific sax and backup vocals. He finished up with a rousing rendition of "Taking it to the Streets", that brought the crowd to its feet. We felt that we had already gotten our money's worth with half the show to go.

Donald Fagen and Walter Becker arrived with a 10 piece backing band that included four horns and two backup singers. They opened with the exuberant "Bodhisattva" and then carried on with a virtual greatest hits list of Steely Dan songs, including "Aja", "Peg", "Hey 19" and many others. Only one recent tune, "Pixeleen", was tossed in the mix. I would have enjoyed hearing "Cousin Dupree", or anything from Fagen's excellent new Morph the Cat CD, but most of the songs were rooted firmly in the 70's. Mid way through the set, Michael McDonald joined in on vocals and keyboard. He added an extra spark to "Show Biz Kids", "Do it Again", and others. The show ended with my favorite Steely tune, "My Old School", filled with wild guitars and a crowd once again standing and singing along with every word.

We left feeling that we had gotten two great concerts for the price of one.

They got the house on the corner

With the rug inside

They got the booze they need

All that money can buy

They got the shapely bods

They got the steely dan t-shirt

And for the coup-de-gras

They're outrageous
Show Biz Kids

Steelyard "Sugartooth McDan - The man, the legend

All God's Critters

We took a day off to visit the Philadelphia Zoo. And who did we find in the Monkey House? None other than Terry Hendrix and WXPN's Kathy O'Connell. WXPN is the University of Pennsylvania's celebrated radio station, where we first heard Terri's music. Kathy is the host of XPN's "Kids Corner" show - a truly unique and fun radio show for kids of all ages.
We said hello to Terri and Lloyd Maines when we first arrived at the zoo. They were setting up for their show - part of the zoo's Rock 'n' Roar concert series. They smiled at our shirts and we talked briefly about seeing them at the Tin Angel.

We let them finish setting up and visited some of the animal exhibits. When we arrived about 10 minutes before the show, we saw Terri and Lloyd talking with Kathy. Lloyd waved us over and we said hello to Kathy, who says she has the best job in the world. Terri asked to take a picture of us with Kathy. Then we took some snapshots of them.

We talked about seeing Terri and Lloyd in Amenia. Lloyd remarked about how beautiful that area was. He also really enjoyed New Hampshire, where they had recently performed at an area the reminded him of On Golden Pond. Kathy O'Connell is originally from Long Island, and has family in Beacon and Fishkill.

Marsha told Terri that we wanted to see them in Texas sometime (although they said it was too hot in San Antonio during the summer - come in the spring). Terri recommended coming for one of her "Life is a Song" workshops, or one of the festivals in the area that, feature other Texas musicians, as well.
The concert was a mix of many of the songs from her children's CD, with a few other songs thrown in (notably, the zoo themed "I Found the Lions", "Wallet", and the fun "Wind Me Up").
Terri got all the kids to roar like lions and make their favorite critter sounds.

Get on up and dance everybody, get on up and dance . . .

. . . and get your goat on!

All us critters clapped and sang along to "Play Ball", "Car Car", "Celebrate the Difference", and more. What a wonderful day at the Zoo! And we didn't even get to the animals yet. More pictures to come!

The Garden Diaries - August

The weather is hot and humid, and the tomatoes are ripening on the vine. Can we eat them fast enough?

The eggplant have certainly grown - but we are still waiting for fruit.

The crook-neck squash are fairing better.

Spicy pepper, anyone?

Self portrait with sunflower. About 7' and growing.

Red and juicy . . .

Or try a Golden Jubilee

Blowin' in the wind

The answer, my friend, is located in the Pocono Mountains, near Wilkes-Barre, PA. As we traveled home from Syracuse, we were amazed at the sight of these giant wind-powered turbines sitting on top of a ridge. They are 397 feet high (255 feet of tower, plus the upright blade) - almost 100 feet more than a football field, or the Staue of Liberty. They stand out like Brobdingnagian giants, turning gracefully in the breeze. These turbines are part of the Bear Creek wind farm. They provide energy to Pennsylvania Power & Light, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others. All told, there are 12 generators putting out 2 magawatts each. Expectations are to generate 75 million kilowatt-hours per year.

If you want to see this sight for yourself, just head south on the Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike from Scranton. As you can see, this shot was from mile marker 110.

Summer Syracuse Girls

There is nothing like Syracuse in the summer - Lots of sun, fun and food. Of course, on our trip we ran into a little stormy weather. Fortunately, we had the birthday candles ready when the lights went out.

Happy Birthday Elise!

On some of those summer days, it can be so hard to wake up. . .

. . .at least until you find a monkey

eek eek