This section is devoted to some of my opinions related to art, music, & literature. Maybe someday I'll add opinions on other subjects, but I doubt it. When it comes to movies & music, though, everybody is a critic.

• Cooking:
  • I enjoy cooking the following ethnic foods:
    • Chinese
    • Italian
    • Indian
    • Moroccan
    • Lebanese (we had an opportunity to experiment with this only once, but it turned out fine.)

  • Other favorite ethnic foods: Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Afghanistani, Ethiopian, Middle Eastern, French, Cajun, Mexican, and well, just about anything else!
  

• Travel:
  • Foreign:

    I have visited France (Paris & Versailles), the US Virgin Islands (St. Johns & St. Thomas), Italy & Sicily, and briefly Mexico (Tijuana) & Canada (Montreal, Niagara Falls, then Quebec City in 2005 and again in 2015.) In Italy in 1994, Joanne & I visited Florence (& surrounding countryside), Rome, Venice & Padua; while in Sicily we rented a car and circumnavigated the island, as well as visiting some smaller inland towns such as Canigatti and Naro (where my family is from). Particulary memorable on the coast were Palermo, Agrigento, Taormina (near Mt. Etna, which we visited), and especially Siracusa (home of Archimedes). I'd be hard pressed to name a favorite city in Italy, but if forced, I'd probably say Venice on the mainland (followed closely by Florence), and Siracusa in Sicily.

  • In 2016 we returned to Europe for a visit of Italy (third time there), Spain, Portugal, with an impromptu side trip to Morocco. I no longer update this website, (but check Face Book for photos!)

  • During the summer of 2018, I spent 3 weeks in Hong Kong, teaching a course for the CTY program at Hong Kong University.

  • Domestic:

    Over the years, I've visited 46 of the United States. I have yet to visit: Nebraska, Arkansas, North Dakota, & Alaska. Some of the most impressive places to visit in the USA are Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks, and Bryce Canyon in Utah. Runners up include the Grand Canyon, Muir Woods, Joshua Tree Park, Death Valley, Craters of the Moon, Haleakala Park, Etc.

  • In the Spring of 2014, Joanne & I visited Hawaii to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We stayed on the Big Island, and had many adventures, including meeting with a Kona Coffee dealer and buying a few pounds of Kona coffee direct from him; snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay (where the Captain Cook monument is located), evening snorkeling with giant manta rays, visiting the observatories atop Mauna Kea, and particiapting in a stargazing trip; a helicopter tour of the volcanoes and waterfalls of the Big Island, and zip-lining near some waterfalls. Wonderful trip!

    Here are some relevant links (to parks I have visited):

    • Yosemite:
      1. National Park Service - Yosemite
      2. yosemitepark.com
      3. A Guide to Yossemite Park

    • Yellowstone:
      1. National Park Service - Yellowstone
      2. Vacation Guide
      3. Yellowstone Raft Company
      4. Yellowstone Geographic

    • Bryce Canyon:
      1. National Park Service - Bryce Canyon
      2. Bryce Valley and Tropic
      3. AreaParks.com - Utah

    • The Grand Canyon:
      1. National Park Service - Grand Canyon
      2. The Grand Canyon National Park Foundation
      3. Canyon Dreams (hiking)
      4. Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce

    • Joshua Tree National Park:
      1. National Park Service - Joshua Tree
      2. Joshua Tree National Park Association
      3. AreaPark.com - Joshua Tree
      4. Joshua Tree Community Website

    • Death Valley National Park:
      1. National Park Service - Death Valley
      2. DeathValley.com
      3. AreaParks.com - Death Valley
      4. Sierra Club - Death Valley

    • Virgin Islands National Park:
      1. National Park Service - Virgin Islands
      2. St.JohnsIsland.com
      3. St-John.com

    • Haleakala National Park:
      1. National Park Service - Haleakala
      2. Haleakala.National-Park.com
      3. MauiMap.com - Haleakala

    • Florida Everglades:
      1. National Park Service - Everglades
      2. Everglades Home Page
      3. AreaParks.com - Everglades

    • Cape Cod National Seashore:
      1. National Park Service - Cape Cod
      2. LLBean.com
      3. Paine's Campground

    • Craters of the Moon National Monument:
      1. National Park Service - Craters of the Moon
      2. Unoffical Guide
      3. Volcano World

    • Shenandoah National Park:
      1. National Park Service - Shenandoah
      2. Aramark - Shenandoah National Park
      3. Shenandoah.National-Park.com
      4. Area Parks.com - Shenandoah

    • Mount Rushmore National Memorial:
      1. National Park Service - Mount Rushmore
      2. Black Hills Online
      3. South Dakota Mount Rushmore Page

      

    • Acadia National Park:
      1. National Park Service - Acadia
      2. AcadiaNet, Inc.
      3. Acadia Institute of Oceanography

    • Niagara Falls:
      1. Niagara Vacation Guide
      2. Thunder Alley
      3. Falls Net attraction and Guide

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    For beaches, nothing can beat the US Virgin Islands or Hawaii (especially Maui), but Cape Cod and coastal Maine have a lot to offer also.

    ---

  • When the kids were younger, the family made it an annual tradition to go on (sometimes extended) camping trips in our travel trailer. In our maiden voyage down South (Spring 1996), we visited Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. In the summer of 1996 we visited Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, & Niagara Falls (Canadian side). The Summer of 1999 brought us two trips to Cape Cod, MA, where the kids had their first ocean beach experience. On one of the trips we took the ferry to Martha's Vineyard for a short bicycle trip and some time on the beach there. We also visited friends & relatives in Virginia, where we also made an appearance at Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home. In summer of 2000, we repeated our 1996 trip: Iowa (Des Moines), Illinois (Chicago), Ohio (Seaworld in Cleveland), Michigan (Marshall), and Niagara Falls (while we did travel through Canada between Niagara and Indiana, at Niagara Falls this time we visited the American side, including a ride on the Maid of the Mist.) In 2001, we stayed relatively near home, camping near Lake George a lot. We did spend the last week of the summer on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard. After that, we finally sold the camper.

  • Of course, in 2006 when our daughters were a bit older, we took the plunge for a family vacation to Disneyworld in Florida, and in 2009 we returned for a Disney Cruise which also included a stop in Nassau, the Bahamas. We also (January, 2008) visited the Smuggler's Notch Resort near Stowe, Vermont for a weekend of skiing with my sister Lori & her family.

  • 2010 brought our second trip to Italy. this time with the kids. In fact, the main reason for the trip was the soccer tournament that Angelina played in. The trip included visits to London, England (4 days) and St. Moritz, Switzerland (1 afternoon) in addition to the following cities in Italy: Verona, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Viareggio, Como, Bellagio, Varenna, and Chiesa in Valmalenco. I rarely add photos to this site anymore, but you can find more recent photos (including soccer pics and the 2010 trip to Italy) on my Facebook page.

  • In 2014, we took a trip to the Big Island in Hawaii, to celebrate our 20th wedding Anniversary. Great trip! Beaches, wonderful food, visit to a local Kona coffee dealer, who explained in great detail how the coffee beans are harvested and processed, and what types of beans were what. Also zip-lining over waterfalls, a trip up Mauna Kea for an evening of star-gazing and a helicopter ride over active lava flows. We also swam with Manta Rays one evening - quite magical.

  • We visited Europe again in 2015-2016, since Chiara was studying in Florence, Italy, and Angelina was studying in Paris, France. Joanne & I flew to Florence, picked up Chiara and flew to Malaga, Spain. We stayed in a condo south of Malaga for a week, and made day trips to Cordoba & Sevilla. Then we met up with Angelina and made another day trip to Granada where we had a peresonal 5-hour guided tour of the Alhambra Museum and Palaces. Wonderful! Then off to Portugal and a 3 -day detour trip to Morocco, Africa. Finally we returned to Italy spent a week in a condo outside of Siena, near Florence. We then moved to a second condo for a two week stay, except I had to leave after a day to attend a conference in Seattle. Joanne & the girls stayed for the rest of the trip in Italy, then Angelina went to Paris, and Chiara returned to Florence. Joanne came back home but returned in May for 5 weeks to be Artist in Residence at the SACI program in Florence. It was an amazing trip in many ways - we visited Picasso's house, many museums, and had Christmas dinner in a restaurant in Malaga, Spain, watching Flamenco dancing. Snake Charmers and spice shops in Marrakesh, and toured the Casbah in Tangier, following in the footsteps of Matisse and seeing homes owned by Keith Richards and William S. Burroughs. We also saw the street where a scene from the James Bond Movie Spectre was filmed. For photos, see my Face Book page.

  • 12/27/2019. "For a while you and I were joined to eternity,
    Then we split in two, back to me and you,
    like the rains rising from the sea..." - After You Came, the Moody Blues

    The adventure continues, but as friends not partners. Moved to Saratoga Springs. And moved again in 2022 to Ballston Spa.

• Other:

  I have been known to occasionally dabble in:

  • Amateur Astronomy
  • Coin Collecting

  • I like attending plays, concerts and opera , especially at the outdoor Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). Besides several years of attending the Jazz festival (where we saw the likes of Chick Corea, George Benson, Grover Washington Jr., B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Tony Bennet, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Branford Marseilis, Bela Fleck, Andy Summers, Snarky Puppy, Tower of Power, and Cindy Blackman Santana) we also have enjoyed dozens of operas (my favorites were Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, Carmen, the Marriage of Figaro, Turandot, and Don Giovanni - ones I haven't yet seen but would like to are Tosca and Aida), a couple of ballets, and a performance of Philip Glass' Dancepieces.

    I've also enjoyed the following (mostly rock & pop) shows since 1990:

    • Eric Clapton, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY, August, 1990
    • T.S. Monk Band, The Village Gate, New York City (Summer, 1992) (TS is Thelonius Monk's son.)
    • The Modern Jazz Quartet, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, (1993?)
    • Traffic, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY, August, 1994
    • King Crimson, with the California Guitar Trio opening, Paramount Theater (formerly the Sanderson Theater), Springfield, MA
    • Steely Dan, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY, 7/31/00
    • Paul Simon, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY, 8/1/01
    • King Crimson, with John Paul Jones (ex of Led Zeppelin) opening, Orpheum Theater, Boston, MA, 12/8/01
    • The Kronos Quartet, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2002
    • King Crimson, Orpheum Theater, Boston, MA, 3/8/03
    • Aztec Two Step, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 9/13/03
    • 21st Century Schizoid Band, Middle East Club, Cambridge, MA, 4/26/04
    • John Renbourn & Jacqui McShee (ex of Pentangle), Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 5/9/04
    • Aztec Two-Step, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 2/9/07
    • Zed, GORGG Jam, Red Lion Inn, Denver, CO, 10/?/07
    • Aztec Two-Step, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 8/9/08
    • The Moody Blues, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY, 8/26/09
    • Izz, GORGG jam, Norwalk Inn, Norwalk, CT, 10/30/09
    • Three Friends, Keswick Theater, Philadelphia, PA 6/20/10
    • Aztec Two Step, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 8/21/10
    • Crosby, Stills & Nash (opening for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY 8/28/10
    • Ray Murray & the Bomb Squad, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, 12/5/10
    • Aztec Two Step, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 8/5/11
    • Allan Holdsworth, with Marbin opening, Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT, 3/23/12
    • Three Friends, B.B. Kings, New York City, 10/9/12
    • Aztec Two Step, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 5/12/13
    • The Nutopians, The Guthrie Center, Great Barrington, MA, 7/6/13
    • King Crimson, The Egg, Albany, NY, 9/10/14
    • Big Al Anderson with the Floor Models and with the Wildweeds, the "No Class Reunion," Hills Point Hotel Ballroom, Windsor Locks, CT, 12/26/14
    • Aztec Two Step, Infinity Music Hall, Norfolk, CT, 7/18/15
    • Three Friends, with The Moulettes opening, Olympia de Montreal, Montreal, Canada, 10/3/15
    • King Crimson, Quebec, Canada, 11/12/15 ("Family & Friends" tour opener)
    • Justin Hayward, The Egg, Albany, NY, 5/18/16
    • Hot Tuna, The Egg, Albany, NY, 11/20/16
    • King Crimson, The Egg, Albany, 11/8/17
    • Zakir Hussain and Rakesh Chaurasia, Troy Music Hall, 3/22/18
    • Richie Furay Band (ex-Buffalo Springfield and Poco), The Egg, Albany, NY 10/26/18
    • Pete Donnelly, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, 1/31/19
    • Aztec Two Step, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, 5/4/19
    • King Crimson, The Metro, Phildelphia, PA, 9/23/19
    • California Guitar Trio and the Montreal Guitar Trio, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 2/13/2020
    • The Figgs, with Candy Ambulance opening, Putnam Place, Saratoga Springs, NY 2/28/2020
    • King Crimson (Friends and Family Warm-up show), The Egg, Albany, NY 8/22/2021
    • King Crimson, w/Zappa Band (including Mike Kennealy, et. al.), SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY, 8/23/2021
    • King Crimson, w/Zappa Band, Springfield, MA Symphony Hall, 8/24/2021
    • Dead & Company (Bob Weir, Micky Hart, Bill Kreutzman, John Maier, et. al.), SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY 8/27/2021
    • St. Vincent, Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT, 9/4/21
    • Brian Wilson (special guests: Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin), the Palace, Albany, NY, 10/12/2021
    • Hot Tuna, with the Midnight Ramble Band, The Egg, Albany, NY, 12/1/2021
    • Journey, with Toto opening, The Southern New Hampshire University Arena, Manchester, NH, 3/6/2022
    • John Lodge, Infinity Music Hall, Norfolk, CT, 3/8/2022
    • Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, 5/6/2022
    • Security Project (Trey Gunn/Jerry Marotta/Happy Rhodes/et.al.), Putnam Place, Saratoga Springs, NY, 5/12/2022
    • Aztec Two Step 2.0, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, 5/14/2022
    • Paul McCartney, Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY, 6/4/2022
    • Jon Anderson and the Paul Green Rock Academy, The Egg, Albany, NY, 8/6/2022
    • Adrian Belew (power trio w/Julie Slick), the Egg, Albany, NY, 8/19/2022
    • Richard Thompson, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 9/1/2022
    • Jorma Kaukonen, The Egg, Albany, NY, 12/13/2022
    • Steve Forbert, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2/11/2023
    • Adrian Belew and Jerry Harrison (ex of the Talking Heads), with Cool, Cool, Cool opening ('Remain in Light' tour), Empire Live, Albany, NY, 3/8/2023
    • Leo Kottke, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 6/10/23
    • Cindy Blackman Santana Band, Tower of Power, and Snarky Puppy, Freihofer Saratoga Jazz Festival, SPAC, 6/24/23
    • Hiromi, Bonnie Raitt, Feihofer Saratoga Jazz Festival, SPAC, 6/25/23
    • Shakti, Wang Theater, Boston, 8/17/23
    • Hot Tuna, The Egg, Albany, 9/20/23
    • Steve Hackett, The Egg, Albany, 10/10/23
    • Justin Hayward, the Egg, Albany, 10/12/23
    • Get the Led Out, Proctors, Schenectady, NY, 1/27/24
    • Aztec Two Step 2.0, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, 3/1/24
    • Rick Wakeman, The Egg, Albany, 3/29/24
    • Tisra (Zakir Hussain -tabla, Sabir Khan -sarangi (strings), Debopriya Chatterjee -bansuri (bamboo flute)), Spa Little Theater, Saratoga Springs, 4/10/24
    • John Fogerty (ex of Creedence Clearwater Revival), SPAC (partial show, from outside arena), Saratoga Springs, NY 6/12/24
    • Roger Daltry, with KT Tunstall opening, Tanglewood, Lenox, MA, 6/22/24
    • Soft Machine, The Linda Auditorium, WAMC Studios, Albany, 9/26/24
    • BEAT (Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai, Danny Carey), Schubert Theater, Boston, MA, 10/11/24
    • Moonlight Sky, GORGG jam, Hotel Astoria, Bled, Slovenia, 10/18/24
    • David Cross Band, the Iron Horse, Northampton, MA, 10/24/24
    • David Cross Band, Strand Theater, Hudson Falls, NY, 11/1/24
    • Aztec Two Step 2.0, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, 3/7/25
    • Exposure, The Iron Horse, Northampton, MA, 4/21/25
    • Veronica Swift, Spa Little Theater, Saratoga Springs, NY 5/1/25
    • Judy Collins, Paramount Theater, Rutland, VT, 5/15/25
    • The California Guitar Trio, with Kaki King opening, the Kate, Old Saybrook, CT, 6/1/25
    • Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, The Egg, Albany, NY 6/25/25
    • Chuck Lamb Trio, featuring Randy Brecker, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Sporings, NY, 7/15/25
    • Philadelphia Orchestra, Naomi Woo, Conductor, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY 8/20/25
      Program: Ballade in A Minor (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor),
      Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33 (Camille Saint-Saens), with featured cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason (who was awesome!)
      Symphony #5 in C Minor, Op. 67 (Ludwig van Beethoven)
      .
      Pretty cool the span of genre's I'm hitting - In 2025 I've seen 2 folk acts (Aztec Two Step and Judy Collins), 2 jazz acts (Veronica Swift and Chuck Lamb/Randy Brecker), 2 avante garde acts (Exposure and Ceramic Dog) unless you count California Guitar Trio as avant garde, too (they also can be described as part progressive, part experimental, part classical), and tonight's classical performance. Coming up in the next two months are 2 rock acts (the Smithereens, and Steve Winwood). Making the most of retirement, musicwise!
      .

      Steve Winwood, Turning Stone Casino, Verona, NY, 9/27/25

      The Smithereens, The Kate, Old Saybrook, CT 10/10/25

      Beatles Caffe (Beatles tribute show organized by Maswick and Brown, et. al.), Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 11/16/25

      Stick Men (Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Markus Reuter), Strand Theater, Hudson Falls, NY, 3/29/26

      Stick Men, Iron Horse, Northampton, MA, 3/31/26

      Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY, 5/5/26

      The Levin Brothers, Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, 5/28/26

      The Happy Together Tour (The Cowsills, the Vogues, Gary Puckett, The Fortunes, Jason Scheff (ex of Chicago), The Troggs, the Association),

      The Palace Theater, Albany, NY, 6/17/26

      The Guess Who, with Don Felder (ex of the Eagles) opening, SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY, 7/14/26

      Tuner (Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto, Markus Reuter), the Iron Horse, Northampton, MA, 7/30/26

    Before 1990, I attended concerts by the following bands/artists, but I cannot recall the exact dates in most cases:

    • The Wildweeds, several times between 1968 & 1970 at the Enfield Teen Center, Enfield, CT
      (these were dances, not concerts, but I loved that band - and venue - enough to include here. First significant live rock music experiences for me.)

      Alice Cooper, with the Edgar Winter Group (including Rick Derringer) opening, Springfield, MA Civic Center, Winter, 1972

      Yes with Flo & Eddie opening (Colt Park?, Hartford, CT, Summer, 1972)

      The Guess Who, Riverside Park, Agawam, MA (Summer, 1973? possibly 1972?)

      Dave Mason (ex of Traffic), AIC campus, Springfield, MA (Fall, 1973)

      Grateful Dead, Hartford, CT (1973? Outdoor venue - was it Colt Park?)

      Jethro Tull with Livingston Taylor opening, Springfield, MA Civic Center, 9/23/73

      Uriah Heap, with Earth, Wind & Fire opening, Springfield, MA 1974 or 1975? (Pretty sure it was the Sanderson Theater)

      Gentle Giant opening for Focus (Sanderson Theater, Springfield, MA on Halloween, 1974)

      Also on the bill: John Martyn (I have no memory of his performance. Perhaps I arrived late, or I just forgot - it is over 50 years ago, and also the Gentle Giant performance eclipsed everything everything else! One of the best two or three concerts I've ever seen.)

      Traffic (New Haven, CT, 1974)

      Fleetwood Mac (New Haven, CT, 1975? or was it 1974?)

      Jefferson Starship (New Haven, CT, 1975? or 1974?)

      Oregon, Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Springfield, MA, Symphony Hall, 1975? (Also on the bill: Keith Jarrett, but I had to leave to go to work...)

      Gentle Giant opening for J Geils Band, Springfield, MA Civic Center, 1975

      Dave Mason, David Bromberg, Harry Chapin, Syracuse University, November?, 1975

      Jefferson Starship, Springfield, MA Civic Center, 1976

      Gentle Giant opening for Todd Rundgren`s Utopia (also on the bill: Rick Derringer), Springfield, MA Civic Center, 1976

      Little Feat (somewhere in western Ohio, 1977 or spring, 1978?)

      John Jackson (somewhere in northern virginia, 1980?)

      Jorma Kaukonen, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, Oct., 1981

      Taj Mahal, Some club in Charlottesville, VA (1982?)

      James Blood Ulmer, Some club in Hollywood, CA (1985?)

      Bruce Springsteen, LA Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA (Sept., 1985)

      Aztec Two Step, Bridges Cafe, Enfield, CT (1988)