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November 29, 2006
I like to be here when I can...
Thank you all for a great weekend in Chicago. The weather was beautiful, the theatre was amazing, & playing guitar again was very very good. Thank you for everything. FWIW, My massage therapist & chiropractor (both of whom have been indispensable in my recovery) have both cut back their treatment due to excellent progress. I'm getting better.
Here are a few quick pix from Chicago:
tourist shot:
proud father shot:
money shot*:
* for those that care, rick was nice enough to bring a real '60 les paul flametop w. him to the gig.
Posted by al at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2006
happy thanksgiving...
today's post is from our kids. happy thanksgiving.
1. why do we celebrate thanksgiving? because it's a time to give thanks.
2. what do you know about the 1st thanksgiving? the pilgrims moved to um, delete that... the pilgrims went on a ship (LOL) & one was called the mayflower.
3. why did the pilgrims come here?
because the king & queen kept yelling, "go to this church, go to that church."
4. what is your favorite part of thanksgiving?
playing games & doing the 1/2 mile 'turkey run'.
5. what do you want to eat?
cranberry sauce + butternut squash soup.
6. can you think of any other things?
the indians were the pilgrims' friends.
7. do you have a message for all of the moe.rons?
morons?
um.... yes that's what they are called.
can I say "poop"? is there a number 8?
8. some things we are thankful for...
grown ups, making pumpkin pie, toys, clothes, farts, seeing ayla naked.
Posted by al at 01:40 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2006
let's talk turkey...
to recap, the 1st 'thanksgiving' feast was held in 1621. there was no feast the following year. in 1623, after a miracle rainfall that ended a long drought, another thanksgiving was held, with the native americans.
the next thanksgiving came in 1676 (in june). it is not likely that any native americans were invited, since this feast was also celebrating a victory over the natives. (see proclamation below)
here is a synopsis of what followed:
- october 1777 thanksgiving celebration commemorating victory @ saratoga
- 1789 washington proclaims it a national holiday (to mixed reviews, notably from jefferson)
- after a 40 yr. campaign from sarah josepha hale, lincoln proclaims it a national holiday again
- after several moves back & forth from the 3rd to last thursday in november (to accomodate the xmas shopping season), it is finally sanctioned by congress in 1941 as 4th thu. in nov.
*the proclamation -
(it should be noted that these are same 'heathen natives' who helped the pilgrims survive the winter of 1620 - al.)
"The Holy God having by a long and Continual Series of his Afflictive dispensations in and by the present Warr with the Heathen Natives of this land, written and brought to pass bitter things against his own Covenant people in this wilderness, yet so that we evidently discern that in the midst of his judgements he hath remembered mercy, having remembered his Footstool in the day of his sore displeasure against us for our sins, with many singular Intimations of his Fatherly Compassion, and regard; reserving many of our Towns from Desolation Threatened, and attempted by the Enemy, and giving us especially of late with many of our Confederates many signal Advantages against them, without such Disadvantage to ourselves as formerly we have been sensible of, if it be the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed, It certainly bespeaks our positive Thankfulness, when our Enemies are in any measure disappointed or destroyed; and fearing the Lord should take notice under so many Intimations of his returning mercy, we should be found an Insensible people, as not standing before Him with Thanksgiving, as well as lading him with our Complaints in the time of pressing Afflictions:
The Council has thought meet to appoint and set apart the 29th day of this instant June, as a day of Solemn Thanksgiving and praise to God for such his Goodness and Favour, many Particulars of which mercy might be Instanced, but we doubt not those who are sensible of God's Afflictions, have been as diligent to espy him returning to us; and that the Lord may behold us as a People offering Praise and thereby glorifying Him; the Council doth commend it to the Respective Ministers, Elders and people of this Jurisdiction; Solemnly and seriously to keep the same Beseeching that being persuaded by the mercies of God we may all, even this whole people offer up our bodies and souls as a living and acceptable Service unto God by Jesus Christ."
Posted by al at 07:56 AM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2006
jive turkey...
hello.
soon we'll be celebrating one of my favorite holidays of the year, thanksgiving. for me, any time we can all agree to take a step back, take a deep breath & look at the big picture & truly appreciate it, is cause for celebration (& with all good celebrations, good food).
as a kid, I loved the story of the pilgrims & the mayflower. in 4th grade, in mrs. wolczanski's class, I got to be william bradford in our class play. I remember messing up a line I had regarding some order I was giving miles standish to put on a display for the natives (the rest of 4th grade is a blur).
I thought it might be interesting to dig up some facts on thanksgiving:
1. only 1/3 of the original colonists that came over on the mayflower were actually separatists. the rest were hired by a london stock company to protect their vessels & interest in the colony.
2. by the time of their 1st harvest, 46 of the original 102 had died. it is accepted that the remaining group survived largely due to the credit of the native americans.
3. an 'english harvest' feast was held to commemorate the occasion.
4. it is likely that they had wild duck or geese ('turkey' was a generic term for several varieties of wild fowl), corn bread, fish, berries, watercress, lobster, clams, venison, dried fruit & plums.
(* note - no turkey, cranberries, sweet potatoes or pumpkin pie)
more to come...
Posted by al at 07:32 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2006
brothers in arms...
just wanted to offer a moment of hope & gratitude for all the veterans & families. while no one would choose war as an ideal means of resolution, often that choice is the one we face. best wishes to those still active in iraq (& locations that are not on the news every day). we all hope you'll be home soon.
Posted by al at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2006
few more pix...
thanks to andy for these great pics. he's doing the goofy challenge @ disney (a 1/2 marathon followed by a full marathon the next day) in jan. so, he took it easy & brought along a camera for this 'training' run.
this is the 'before' shot. (everyone wears sweats/jammys that get chucked & collected for local charities) - L to R andy, norm, val, me
lining up for our start
yours truly, about to run over andy
somewhere in brooklyn
Posted by al at 07:44 AM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2006
you didn't have to love me like you did...
but you did, but you did
& I thank you!
The marathon was incredible. it was a great experience. the weather was perfect. my friends were there. we ran. we lived. thank you thank you thank you. thanks to all of you for your love & support (financially & otherwise). thanks to my friends norm, val, & andy who shared the day w. me. thanks to my friends & family who allowed me to train & gave me encouragement along the way. thanks to all who have wished me luck, checked in on me, & congratulated me as well.
as you likely know, I stopped training for about 2 + wks. right during the peak of my training. my goal was to try & break 4 hrs., but even fully trained, NY is not rec. as the course for a personal record. regardless, we went for it. the 1st 1/2 was great. we spent the 1st few miles just negotiating the crowd, enjoying the verrazano bridge, bay ridge in brooklyn, chatting, warming up, etc. by mile 3, there was enough room to catch up w. the 4 hr. pace team. we ran a few 8:30 miles & recovered & were on track. by the time we got to the 1/2, the course hits a steady incline for about 3 miles & it wiped me out. there was no way we were going to maintain our 4 hr. pace so we just rode out the 2nd half. I still would like to do a sub 4 marathon one day, but not in NYC. hopefully, I can find one that coincides w. our busy '07 schedule (yes, this means more shows for you).
also - a very special thanks to kirk, page, adam, nate, brendan, & rob for doing their homework & coming out to help us thru those last few gigs. you guys were awesome (so much for job security).
I'm happy to say that my hand/arm/shoulder all feel great & were not hurt any further by the run (cannot say the same for my quads & feet right now). I have been playing the guitar a bit at home & look forward to rocking out in chicago.
the nuts & bolts:
finish time - 4:26
place: 20,225 (out of 38,300)
total funds raised for kelberman center- $12,600!!!
(ps - you can still donate if you are inclined. the kelberman center is a new autism developmental facility in upstate NY - see link for details)
http://www.firstgiving.com/alschnier
did I say thank you?
norm & I @ mile 17
VOTE TODAY! VOTE TODAY! VOTE TODAY! VOTE TODAY! VOTE TODAY! VOTE TODAY!
Posted by al at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)