I Have Officially Moved

Yep, I am no longer a Beny, I am now a shore boy, No longer a boy of summer. I have only one thing to say and that is "MOVING FUCKING SUCKS!!!!". It really does suck. We have been in this house for ten years and the shit we have accumulated over the years has been mind boggling. I have been packing up boxes and moving boxes and throwing boxes away (recycling of course) for a week and a half now all the while working and leaving my old job then making the transition to a new job. I must be nuts. Well anyway it's basically over. I have a few things left at the old house that I have to pick up after work today. Yeah that's right, I said work, It's Sunday and I got suckered into working at the movie theater. Like I don't have enough shit to do. I don't know why I'm complaining, this guy Jason who is a great guy asked me to fill in for him and I said "Sure, No problem man, I'd be glad to work for you". I made my bed so I guess I'll just suck it up and sleep in it. I have to learn not to be such a pushover. That would be tough, it's just not in my nature to put myself first and say no when one of my friends or a family member needs a little help. I have so much stuff to do in the next couple of weeks that I feel like pulling my hair out. I need to take a deep breath.......excuse me for a minute.........aaaahhhhhhhh............that's better. Now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I leave for a relaxing no nonsense vacation to our house on the lake in Maine in about three and a half weeks. I can't fucking wait. It will be a much needed break. My sister and her family and my folks will be there so it will be a blast. It's not often that we are all together in one place. My folks live in Maine, my sister in Minneapolis an I live in Jersey. I can't wait to hang with all of them.
O.K. listen to this, This might take a while so hang in there. A few weeks ago we went to Minneapolis to visit my sister and see The Police in concert (great fucking show by the way). Here's the scenario, we are flying out of Newark at 5:50pm but first we have to go to my daughters dance recital, she's four and she was so excited about it. The recital is at 1:00pm and is supposed to last for three hours so we were going to be cutting it close. My parents came down from Maine to watch the kids while we were away. So Saturday is going to be a busy day for us at least we thought, if we had only known what was about to happen. My mother comes into my room at about 3:30am Saturday morning and says "Dad isn't feeling well so I'm going to take him to the emergency room. Now my Dad is a minister and goes to see people in the hospital at least twice a week. But he is 72 and has never been in a hospital for himself. He was even born at home. Now I knew that something was up. We go to the emergency room and his heart is racing really fast. The beats are all out of sync. They give him some medication intravenously to even out his heart beat. At about 6:30 am I go home to get some things for him and my mother as he will probably be spending the night. While I was at home my wife and I both agreed with out even having to think about it that we were no longer going to Minneapolis. On the way back to the hospital I start to pray. Now even though my Dad is a minister and I have been around a church for most of my life, I'm not sure I believe in all that stuff. Let's say I'm conflicted. So anyway I'm saying to whoever or whatever is out there "Please let my Dad be O.K., and when am I gonna catch a break for crying out loud". I said that because lately it seems everything is going the wrong way. Nothing seems to be working out in my life lately. With work and moving and the band has been really slow lately and other things. So with all this in my mind I get back to the hospital and the cardiologist is there talking to my folks. My Dad's heart is back on track. the doc says he thinks it was atrio-fibulation(not sure if that's right) and that he can't explain why it happened. He said it could be caused by a number of things. They want to keep him there overnight just to make sure. My Dad says to me that If we don't go to Minneapolis he will feel horrible and basically orders me to go. So I don't know what to do at this point. I go outside and call my wife to let her know that he is o.k. and that he wants us to go. My wife says to me "On the bright side I have some good news, Pat called". Now Pat is our receptionist at work and I'm thinking that now I have to go to work on an emergency call or my boss wants to talk to me about the fact that I'm leaving the company after 12 years and he wants to covince me to stay or something like that. I am in a lottery group with Pat and four other people. So I say to my wife "What did she want?" and my wife says "She called and said that you guys won $250,000 dollars!". Now I don't know if you have ever seen "The Jerk" with Steve Martin but there is a scene when he cashes a check that he thinks is for $250 bucks but when he realizes that it's for $250 thousand dollars his head spins all the way around. That was me. Holy shit talk about a clash of emotions. I hang up the phone, now I am standing out in front of the hospital and I start to cry. I just couldn't control it, I was sad and happy and confused and at this point probably starting to get a bit tired. Looks like whoever or whatever I was talking to in the car threw me a bone. To make a long story short with a happy ending, My dad is o.k., we went to Minneapolis and saw the police, I won the lottery (that damn power ball, that would have been 78 million, hey beggars can't be choosers) and my daughters recital was absolutely awesome. I was so proud of her. So now life goes on and everyone is fine and I am so thankful for that. Tomorrow is another day.
Later,ROB

Viruses, Work and Police!

Man it's been a long time since I have posted in here. It's been a long few months chock full of good and bad shit. First off I am moving to south Jersey in a couple of weeks. I like it down there and we're moving to the safest city of it's size in the nation. Yes, the nation. Jersey is actually a great place to live, it's not all smokestacks and mobsters like the sopranos. That is a very small part of the state closest to New York City which is kind of where I live now. I'm moving "Down the shore" as we say in north Jersey. It's about an hour from where I work now so the commute......well......that's another story for a future post as I am typing this at work. Anyway, I think that it will be a good place for my kids to grow up. My wife's entire family lives down there so they will have lots of uncles, aunts and cousins to hang out with. My family members have all left the state in the past 10 years. My folks are in Maine and my sis is in Minnesota. Which leads me to my next story.

My wife and I (no Kids) are going to visit my sister in Minnesota this weekend. My brother-in-law works for some pretty big radio station out there so he got us all tickets to see The Police on the 3rd. Now if there is one band that I like almost as much as The Clash it's The Police. I basically learned how to play the drums listening to Stewart Copeland and copying every fill and beat. I have been waiting for this reunion for a long time. It could totally suck and it would still be great to me. I saw them once before Feb. 4Th 1984 at Syracuse University right before they broke up. My sister was going to Syracuse and slept out for two nights to get tickets for here and her little brother(me). I was in eighth grade at the time. That concert really changed my life. It solidified my desire to be a musician first and foremost for the rest of my life. Although I have a career in a totally different field I consider myself a musician. For example when someone asks me what I do I say I'm a musician or a singer. That really describes me. I know it sounds corny and hokey but my first love was music. Still is as far as I'm concerned. Don't tell my wife I said that. Family always comes first but music is next.
My sister and I are both really looking forward to the concert. I'm sure we'll have a blast. It will surely take us back 23 years to that last show. Holy shit did I just say 23 years. Man am I getting old.

Also we have had a couple of viruses take over our entire house hold. I hope that I never see a drop of puke again. I think I have payed my dues in that department. I have said this before many times in the past but I plan on updating more often now. I have a shitload of stuff to get off of my chest and hopefully I will have more time to do it this summer. I miss venting on here, it always feels good to get things out even if I'm pretty sure I'm just writing to myself.
Later,ROB

101 Things About Rob

NICE SHIRT!

While reading another blogger's 101 things I was inspired to write down 101 things about myself so when I look back on this years from now I can make sure that I haven't changed at all. Actually I pretty much just copied an old 101 from my old diary (blog.....whatever) and I still feel the same way about everything. I'm pretty happy with the way I am today and comfortable with what I believe in. I can't say that I have made a substantial change in my personality ever and I don't plan to anytime soon. So here it goes.

1.SHIT! I'm stuck already....fuck.....sorry....o.k........let's try this again.
1. I'm very honest.....I never lie....even little white lies make me feel guilty.(Not to say that I have never lied before, everyone has.)
2.I am slightly overweight.....could stand to loose 30 pounds
3. I was once in great shape.
4. I used to jog 5 miles every day.
5. I have high cholesterol
6. I have high blood pressure
7. I have been high a number of times
8. I tend to set my goals too high
9. I can sing very high
10. I have a very low, calm, natural voice
11. I have low self esteem sometimes
12. I am very low maintenance, I have never sent back a meal in my life, I can sleep anywhere....I'm happy with just about anything.
I do require a good scratching/tickling from my significant other and a cuddle every once in a while but that's it. Oh and I like honesty. I'm a big fan of honesty. I havn't had much trouble with that, I tend to align myself with honest people, seems I'm a great judge of character. How you guage something like that I don't know but for some reason I can just tell what a person is like in the first few minutes. I'm usually right on.
13. I have a relative who is a total low life. I've known that all my life. The whole judge of character thing.
14. I love spicy foods.
15. I love to cook
16. I write the songs that make me sing
17. I hope I eventually write songs that make the whole world sing as well. (Props To Barry)
18. I love all kinds of different music. To say I like one Classical more than Reggae or Rock-N-Roll more than Jazz would be stupid. Music to me is all about the emotion it draws from you.
19. I play seven different instruments
20. I can make a fart noise with my ear and my eye socket
21. My favorite movie is probably Valley Girl(Great Soundtrack....Plimsouls Rule!)
22. I regret not getting together with Dawn
23. I regret cheating on Sharon (with Dawn)
24. I regret wasting four and a half years with Laura instead of getting together with Dawn.
25. I miss Sharon's Smile
26. I love my wife
27. I have no regrets when It comes to my wife. I can't Imagine my life without her.
28. Two of my kids look like me. (Poor Kids)
29. One of my kids looks like my wife.
30. I love my parents
31. I love my sister
32. I'm not very religious
33. My Dad is a minister.
34. I cry sometimes when I see him preach.
35. My dad is my role model
36. My Mom is my hero
37. I spent a summer in Germany/ Scandinavia when I was 17 with my friends.
38. I was with a hooker in Hamburg.
39. I drank 10 liters of beer at the Hofbrau Haus in Munich. When I finally came to I was in Denmark?
40. I love beer!
41. I like red wine
42. I can count the times I have smoked pot on two hands

43. I have never done any other drugs
44. I got a DUI twelve years ago
45. I have never been in jail
46. I Have only been in three fights my entire life.
47. I took karate(tae kwon do, ju jitsu) for a few years
48. I love to fish, only for sport. I don't eat em, I throw em back. (Except Trout......tastes like chicken).
49. I would move up to our lake house in Maine at the drop of a hat if my wife would agree to it.
50. I have a wave runner and I am very Respectful to my fellow boaters.
51. I'm a pretty good water skier
52. I'm a big fan of Reggae Music
53. I'm a huge New York Jets fan
54. I'm a huge New York Rangers fan
55. I love my kids more than anything
56. My kids are by far my best friends
57. I can't hula hoop worth a shit
58. My nose is a little too big for my liking.
59. I'm 37 and I don't have a single gray hair.....Yet
60. My hair is very thick.....no chance of baldness here baby!
61. Though I have very little bodily hair
62. I only need to shave twice a week
63. I can't touch my nose with my tongue.
64. I'm a night person though I love the mornings.
65. I look like my Dad
66. I have had three really serious relationships in my life. One of them ended in marriage.
67. (Removed to protect the innocent).
68. I am totally heterosexual.
69. I believe gay and lesbian couples should be able to get married.
70. I am attracted to more natural beauty.
71. I'm a breast man, the large natural ones, not the large fake ones. I like the small natural ones too. Natural Natural Natural. Although a nice set of fake ones is nice too. Ahhh who am i kidding....I Like 'Em All!!
72. I love a sense of humor in someone of the opposite sex.
73. I think I have a pretty good sense of humor.
74. I try not to take things too seriously.
75. I'm almost impossible to piss off
76. I love giving "oral" to a woman. I like that just as much as the sex I think.
77. I drive a ford escort. It's reliable.
78. I once was on the Howard Stern Show.
79. I received a standing ovation from 15,000 people. (One of the highlights of my life)
80. I was on the Gong Show and Won!
81. I was on the Uncle Floyd Show(Jersey thing)
82. I was on The Joe Franklin Show.
83. I was on Scott and Todd WPLJ
84. Places I have performed, Continental Airlines Arena, Nassau Coliseum, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, Shae Stadium, PNC Bank Arts Center, Waterloo Village, Hollywood Roosevelt, Stabler Arena, Melody Tent Hianus, Resorts A.C, Taj Mahal A.C., Harrahs A.C., Tropworld A.C., Trump Plaza A.C., The Sands A.C., The Mirage Vegas, Kapalua Bay Hawaii,etc. Toot your own horn why don't you Rob.
85. I love music, all kinds
86. My Dad has over 10,000 video tapes in his library. About 6,000 DVDs and a whole shitload of laser discs. And a ton of 16mm and super 8 films (Too Many To Count)
87. My mother doesn't collect anything. Thank God!
88. I can't drive 55. At least not in Jersey
89. My best friend and I are like Harry and Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber.
90. I love dogs
91. I have a Jack Russel named Marley
92. I also have a dalmatian named Petey(After Petey in the little rascals of course though he is not a dalmatian). He moved to Maine with my folks
93. I used to have a skunk for a pet as a kid
94. I love winter and spring and fall
summer is too humid in Jersey. I love the summer when it's not so fucking humid.
95. I'm not one to be emotional or show emotions that easily.
96. I eat too much crappy food
97. I have about 10 fillings.
98. All of my wisdom teeth are in. Though two have recently been removed
99. I care about the environment and do what I can to be conscious of it.
100. I'm not a racist
101. In the words of that crazy old sailor "I am what I am and that's all I am" oh and " I eats me spinach "
Phew!!!!!

Later,ROB

O.K. I'm Back

O.K. I'm Back
It's Been A while. It's been a long and extremely busy five months. I had a great summer with the kids and the wife although I worked more than I played. In late September we took the kids to Disney world. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge which was friggin' Awesome.

I loved it there. Very peaceful and sort of different from the whole Disney thing. It was very relaxing there. The rooms were nice and it sort of had a slight hint of the whole Overlook Hotel (The Shining) vibe. I could almost see two twin girls in little blue dresses at the end of the long hallways saying "Come and play with us Danny.....Forever....And Ever.....And Ever". I could have been drunk and it was just one Alice Character standing there with my blurred vision. Anyway, It was a great time. Ten days of fun and sun. Now it's back to reality and the only vacation I have coming up is a few days around Christmas time. The Band has been pretty busy lately. You Wouldn't know it from our website though. We hardly ever update it. I have to take control of it and update it more often. We're playing at the Community Theater in Morristown N.J. on New Years Eve. It's a really great venue and I'm really looking forward to it. We have played there in the past a few times and it was always a good time. I have to get back to work but I intend to update more often.
Later,ROB

Our Last Road Trip

Here are just a few pics of our last road trip up to Hershey PA. We had a fun weekend and the crowds were really into it. We played at Chicks on saturday and at the giant Center for the Culder Cup Finals (AHL) which was won by the Hershey Bears by the way. Anyway here are the pics.
One of my drums
More drums
In front of the Giant Center
Good Ole Mickey B.
Mickey B. and Meat
SOme of the chicks at Chicks
Jimmy looking very blue
Billy getting ready to play
Inside the Giant center before the game.
That's all for now. I have some shit to get off of my chest but have no time right now to do it. I have been working like a mad man this week so far. Three 18 hour days in a row. DO I still have a family? Couldn't tell ya, I havn't seen them. Well......Back to fucking work

Go Go's

So we saw the Go Go's on monday night. They were really good. Jane rocked. Here is a really bad pic of the concert. You can see Belinda on the left and Jane on the right. I have to Remember to take my camera next time. Anyway we had a great time. It was just nice to get out with the wife alone for a night. It kind of felt like we were dating again or something. It was a fun night. They have a big video screen thta sort of acts like a curtain and they show videos before the show starts. They had Clash videos playing the whole time before the show started so I was in heaven. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge Clash fan.
Here is another bad pic of the video screen, looks to me like the "Rock The Casbah" video.
Well this weekend is going to be busy. We have a lot of stuff going on and as luck would have it I got a cold today. I feel pretty shitty right now. I hope it goes away by saturday.
For now it's back to work for me.
Later,ROB

Back to the concerts

It's been so long since I have been to a concert that I forgot how great it is. I saw Live the other night with a buddy of mine. The were fucking great. I have always liked them and their songs , at least for me, still hold up today. They really rocked and rocked hard. We saw them at a place ( as I mentioned in my last entry) called the Starland Ballroom. It's a pretty small venue and it's standing room only. They have bars in every corner of the place so it's real easy to get a drink. We had a blast. We got there early and had a few beers in the parking lot and then a few more inside. Caught a little buzz and just had a great time listening to a great fucking band. We were right behind the monitor mixer so we were real close to the stage.












Ed Kowalczyk, the lead singer, kept coming over to the side of the stage I guess because our area was pretty rowdy and full of hot girls. My buddy is recently divorced so naturally he picked this area of the club for that very reason ( the hot girls that is). I took a few shots with the old camera phone. They came out alright.

Anyway, I liked the place so much that I am taking my wife there on Monday night to see The Go Go's. I love Jane Weidlen. I had such a crush on her in the early eighties when I was just a young lad. She's so friggin' cute.

There are so many good concerts there I can see myself going very often this summer. Well for now I have to get back to work. Hey, at least it's Friday. We are going to a birthday party for a friend on Saturday night. These friends live up in Hershey Pa. Now so I don't see them that often. It will be fun to see them and party.
Well, Back to work.
later,ROB