He's Nearly Here!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thanksgiving 2006

The Meal














The Company

Halloween Spirits 2006

Far Hills Hunt 2006

  

"Celebrity Jeopardy!" in New York City

Junior was in New York City today in the company of his nephews and his brother to attend a taping of the "Jeopardy!" game show at the Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. Alex Trebek brought the cast and crew of the show to the New York City venue to conduct a two week "Celebrity Jeopardy!" competition in which some thirty "celebrities" (i.e. TV stars, news makers and pop culture icons)competed for $1,000,000.00 in prize money to be donated to their special charitable causes. Junior sat through the taping of two shows. Naturally, no details of the shows can be made known prior to their broadcast in November.

Moon Festival Holiday?

Badda Bing!

Junior was driving to work some months ago when he spotted
Tony S. taking a break from some "Family" business.

Tony S

Mar 13, 2006 - 3 Photos

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Ahoy, hello, gar!

Junior was reportedly seen "apirating" in celebration of "Talk Like A Pirate Day"!

Brethren and Sisthren (?) of the Spanish Main can find more information about "Talk Like A Pirate Day" here!

September 11 Memorial

Union County has erected a memorial to the sixty county residents killed in the September 11th attack. The memorial is located near the Springfield Avenue entrance to Echo Lake Park on the border of Westfield and Mountainside. The memorial consists of two steel girders from the World Trade Center. The girders arise out of a five sided design meant to recall those that perished at the Pentagon. A torch of liberty representing an eternal flame honors the passengers on Flight 93 and the emergency first responders that were also lost that day. The names of the sixty men and women from Union County who died on 9/11 are engraved on a stainless steel plaque embedded in a block of granite. New Jersey lost 628 residents on 9/11.

Labor Day 2006

Junior spent the Labor Day Holiday at Sis' home.

The adults ate.



The children swam.



There were toasted marshmallows for all.

He was at Shea Stadium tonight!

Although a Yankee fan, Junior was seen at the Met/Cardinal game Thursday night. He attended the game at the invitation of his nephew, Ghost, who was celebrating an upcoming birthday. The Mets won 6 to 2.


Bottom photo shows Cardinal Albert Pujols at bat. Some believe him to be a future "Hall of Famer".

What do I do with it now?

  

Midge reels in a three pound bass in her very first fishing expedition.

100 Days To Halloween

 
Junior wants to remind everyone that it is only 100 days to Halloween! 

Uncle Bones Celebrates His 50 th Birthday

 
Midge helps her Uncle Bones make his birthday wish. 

Baseball In the Far Hills

THE GHOST ON DECK




THE HEART OF THE ORDER: THE GHOST AND THE ROCKET

Midge's Recital Preview

Junior's niece, Midge, is planning a career in musical theater!

Berkeley Heights Youth Baseball

 

Junior stopped by to watch his nephew Bones' Little League team play a tournement game under the lights in Basking Ridge last night. Bones played well, driving in one run on a fielder's choice and playing flawlessly at second base and right field. His team played exceptionally well, winning the game handily. 

ALL THINGS TIKI

Recently, Junior stumbled upon the "Tiki Bar" podcast while browsing the iTunes Store. The discovery awakened a long dormant interest in all things Tiki that he had developed as a child when given a souvenir picture album from the "Enchanted Tiki Room" at Disneyland as a birthday gift from a great aunt. He is now taking bids from contractors for the construction of a bamboo bar on his backyard patio and searching eBay and record stores for old Les Baxter and Martin Denny albums.

Chiller Theatre Expo June 2006

A number of people saw Junior at the spring Chiller Theatre Expo held last Friday night through Sunday at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Secaucus.


He recorded some of the sights here!

Spring Youth Baseball 2006

To Junior, spring means baseball. He recently visited a local municipality's recreational sports complex (i.e. little league field) to check out the action. The photo shows a tired Spider taking a well earned breather after his team won the first game of a scheduled double header. Today's players are made of sterner stuff than in Junior's day. Years ago, a little leaguer might play two games a week. Today, they often play three tournement games over a single weekend. Play ball!

San Francisco: April 8-13, 2006

He was in San Francisco in April.














Alcatraz. Frightening. Brutal.












Who has to paint this thing and why orange? The Bay Bridge is much longer.




Junior says:

San Francisco. Elegant. Distinctive. Hilly.

Take the Duck Tour. The Captain is a retired Swedish naval officer.

Fisherman's Wharf. Point Pleasant's boardwalk on steroids. Needs a "Tiki Bar".

Harbor seals. Smelly.

Giant/AT&T/SBC/Whatever ballpark. Enjoyable even with
B. Bonds. They let children run the bases after the game.

Saints Peter and Paul Church. Masses in English, Italian and Chinese.

Restaurants good. Rose Pistola, Italian. Hunan Home, Chinese. Wipeout, California burger.

Exploratorium. AP Physics class.

Weather. Rained 42 of previous 43 days.

Joe DiMaggio. Where has he gone?

Junior says he will go again.

More photos from Junior's San Francisco trip may be found here!

March 2006

He was nowhere in March. Didn't leave his house. Watched enough History Channel programming to get a B.A. degree in ancient history.

Grandpa's Bridge

Junior's Grandpa Lorenzo worked for the State Highway Department for many years. In 1949 or so he was struck by a truck while clearing snow from a State highway. His injury hospitaized him for more than forty days. The resulting disability caused his superiors at the Highway Department to refer him for early retirement. Grandpa Lorenzo did not, however, think himself ready to retire to the cultivation of his backyard tomato garden. (Junior reports that his family is genetically predisposed to workaholism.) As such, he turned for help to the local legislator that got him his job with the State in the first place. That spirited public servant influenced the Department to have Grandpa assigned to a less physically demanding position as a bridge operator. Consequently, Grandpa Lorenzo became the operator assigned to the William J. Stickel Memorial Bridge in Newark.

The William J. Stickel Memorial Bridge is a multilane vertical lift bridge that spans the Passaic River between Newark and the Town of Harrison. The 125 foot long bridge is named after a one-time Essex County engineer. It opened for traffic in 1949. The Stickel Bridge is one of the few movable bridges within the Interstate Highway system. At the present time it rarely opens and is considered obsolete.

The bridge was more vital when Junior's Grandpa worked on it more than forty years ago. Junior can recall driving to the bridge with his Dad to bring Grandpa a boxed dinner because he was going to work a second shift that day. Junior would have been no more than 6 or 7 at the time. Climbing the steel stairway to the bridge operator's perch seemed to the infant Junior as if he were climbing to the top of the Empire State Building. From his Grandfather's window atop the bridge, Junior could see the grey-green Passaic River far below flowing into the Newark Bay.

Junior is aware that the State DOT has redesign plans for the highway system in and around the Stickel Bridge. He does not know whether the plans call for utilizing the bridge in some manner or demolishing it.

KING KONG

Junior saw the Peter Jackson version of "King Kong" for the second time today in the company of his three nephews, Ghost, Bones and Spider. Upon reflection, he found the movie entirely entertaining, but substantially without the mystery, drama, horror and intensity of the original version. Unquestionably, the film would have benefited by the editing out of about twenty minutes of unnecessary and distracting footage. (Giant primates, native to tropical rain forests, do not ice skate.)