Month: March 2014

Fotoz Update Part 1

Spring teases us with false promises and winter holds on with one final desperate gasp. Over the weekend enough snow had melted that I was finally able to clean up the debris left behind by the removal of my old elm tree. The good news is the town is supposed to come and grind out the stump and plant a new tree. We’ll see if they keep their word.

Meanwhile, as we begin to make plans to go aout and play in the coming year, can there be a better time go back thru last year’s pictures and make some albums and relive some fond memories. I put up the first two albums, which cover the period from the xmastime thru the end of the school year. Highlights include a trip upstate for the holidays, a trip the Caribbean, and Lizzy’s graduations from middle school. As always these galleries are for family and friends, so if you need a password drop me a line.

Upcoming RELIX Shows

I hope you can come out and catch my band The RELIX one of these nights. Sure to be a good time with some awesome music. We’ve learned about twenty new songs since our last show. Spread the word!

Vintage Bar and Restaurant
Saturday April 12, 2014 9pm
171 Main St, White Plains, NY 10601
914-328-5803
www.vintagebar.net

THE FEZ
Friday May 9th 9pm
227 Summer Street, Stamford, CT – 06901
203-324-3391
www.thefez1.com

For more info see nycrelix.com

Zing Man Studios – New Home Page

Take a fresh look at zingman.com. I’ve recently completed a round of enhancements, part of an ongoing set of upgrades. There are some improvements to the styles, for example better colors for the Buy Now button in the origami section, but the main thing is the home page. Zing Man Productions has been renamed Zing Man Studios. The focus is on origami and music, with everything else being deemphasized until such a time as I can put new effort into it. Most of all, the feature link on my home page is for my forthcoming book Origami Animal Sculptures, which is now available for pre-order from Amazon and directly from Tuttle the publisher. I’m close to completing a round of work music – up to mastering five songs now, which is an EP or half an album. Look for more updates to the site when that goes live.

X-C

Winter continues. After several heavy snowfalls it’s been calm the last couple weeks, but still mainly bitter cold. Even now huge snowpiles linger on. Last weekend we actually had a couple days above freezing and I spent a good chunk of time outside breaking up ice to reclaim the parking spot on the street in front of our house. The parking lot at my train station is down a good dozen spots or more, between poor snow removal and people parking all over the place in response. After two or three days of parking in very sketchy spots a couple weeks back I’ve taken into going into the office earlier until spring.

Last year I didn’t go skiing at all, and this year when the conditions were best I was too busy dealing with shoveling out even think about it. When I did think about it, I was thinking I’d be lucky to get in one day before the end of the season. It’s gotten to the point where downhilling is a lot of overhead. You have to get up way too early and drive 2+ hours to get good snow, and when you’re there you spend a lot of time riding the lifts and waiting in line, just for a few runs. Although I must say a really good run can make the whole thing worth it. Still, it feels like the last few times went it was bitter cold and/or icy and not so enjoyable. With the kids in tow the cost adds up fast and they’ve grown kinda meh about it.

So this year I thought I’d get back to cross-country. I used to do x-c before I started downhilling, and over the years had some great x-c ski trips in the Adirondacks and in Yosemite. It’s much cheaper than downhill and a more relaxing vibe. I found a place called Fahnestock Winter Park. It’s not too far away, about 45 minutes up the Taconic, just a bit past Seth. By time I got a plan together Jeannie and the kids were all busy with other stuff. So I went by myself. It was just the thing I needed, a nice peaceful day in the woods. Only thing is that the conditions were icy. But now that we know it’s there we can cruise up next year any time we there’s fresh snow.