The Dogs Are In

 

  

  Gail convinced me to go to the intramural level of agility competition she does with Roxy.  It was pretty entertaining and action-packed, but more than a few barking dogs and neurotic owners.

   Once the course is set up, all the handlers walk it to plan out their directions for the dogs.  It took a lot to not run out there and pretend to be a confused dog.

   Dogs of all sizes are involved.  I had flashbacks to skiing with Bean watching this competitor.   I'm not planning to go to the full competition when there are three times as many dogs.  And there's no truth to the rumor that the last-place team has to compete under the name The Old Yellers at the next event.

Pirate Radio

  

  More opportunities have arisen to take up air space at WVBR, 93.5 on your FM dial.  With the students away, I offered to keep the sidewalk shoveled (no, there's no connection to those points).  I figured while I was up there, and they weren't broadcasting regular shows, I could take over and play whatever music I wanted.  I adhere to the tradition of the Salt Creek Show and stick with music people expect to hear on it.  My first order of business was perfectly acceptable for Salt Creek, a few of the John Prine albums in the library.  I did two or three hours a night Christmas week and had a good time.  Listeners checked in from the Upper Peninsula to Florida.  I played more than Prine, but plenty of him too.

   I forgot to play this one night, and ran out of time another.  Maybe next year.

People I've Known and Seen

 

  A trip to see family in Erie County resulted in finding some old pics.  my parents were always optimistic the Bills could win district and dressed for it, but resigned to the reality too.  Some of our dearly departed, and a mid-90s version of yours truly.

 

I made a stop in Black Rock to see Pat, Helene, Will and Henry.  It was my lucky day to be there for the annual deer skull boiling.  Could become an annual excursion.  No pictures from the family gathering in Hamburg, or breakfast with the Raukers, but it was good to see everyone.

  Talia made it into the country despite having me in her contacts.  She ran the Turkey Trot on a cold, windy day.  Somehow, she managed to get Nafisa away from her books for a visit.

   More students, past and present.  I considered riding with Nano to visit NYC, but didn't go.  Still haven't been there since before COVID.  She had a good time and has the benefit of a free place to stay.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas is not the time to get a hotel deal.  Without identifying current students, I present the old dish soap challenge and see if you can spot the teacher's hand amongst the students.

 A basketball trivia calendar caused all kinds of trash talk and bragging rights at work.  Greg is enjoying his retirement job at IHS but trying to stay humble doing it.  Probably should have written in Bubba Gary to get anyone to recognize him from his Bona's days.

I've never been to Spain, but the Collins have.  They hoped to visit Ithaca, but this trip was a higher priority.  Probably a good choice.

   Shannon paid the price for having a birthday.

   Gail and I couldn't make it to Chicago for Colleen and Quill's wedding, but with the texting going on by my siblings that weekend it was almost as if I was there.  Nice to get photos too.

 

Alan and Marylin are in Florida, walking on the beach.

  Amy had her cookie extravaganza at the inn to celebrate the holidays.  Always worth loading up on steroids to ward off the reaction to gluten.  Leigh was two balls down in pocket pool but not giving up.

 

Early Cold

 

  As a skier and skater, this November and December has been excellent.  Not that I actually got out to skate, but knowing the opportunity was there helps.  Lots of skiing, all local from the house.

 

  Not all the skiing went as planned.  A new trail in the dark sent me off course and down this former stone wall.  I landed on my chest at the spot in the top pic.  The bottom pic shows how far I made it before bailing out.  I was unable to turn to get off the rocks.  There was slightly more snow the day that happened than the day I took the pictures.

 

  A wait of more than 20 years is over.  The rail trail has been cleared enough on the Coddington Valley section to ski.  I made it out to Brooktondale in decent conditions.  It was easier to move the logs than ski or walk over them.  No way to get around the gully cutting through.  Where's that confounded bridge?

   This old map shows the rail line and how it just catches Dryden and Danby.

   The newest addition to Ithaca's devotion to Safe Streets.  Frequently part of my commute, this stretch of Thurston Ave could be unnerving as vehicles raced up and down.  It's far enough away from the street that the plow hasn't dumped snow on it, yet. 

   The most recent iteration of the Whack Saw.  I'll never work without it again.  The electric weed whacker has proven its worth too.

  

What happens to the packaging when I order new saw blades.
 

If Tomorrow Never Comes

 Todd Snider wrote some touching lines, some biting, funny, and sad lines.  Sometimes they were all one line.  Don't believe me?  Check out "Sunshine".  He toured relentlessly, and came to and within driving range of Ithaca many times in his 30-year career.  I never regretted going to a show, listening to a tape or cd, or watching a show or video.  Still don't, I've watched a shit-ton just writing this blogpost and looking for stuff to link to in it.  But now it's all a melancholy trip down memory lane , because as he wrote, "Ive learned nothing but that there is another sunrise coming.  All but one of the times it sets"

  A particularly special show for me was his appearance at GrassRoots in 2019.  I'd been lobbying the music director at the Heron, David Tidquist, for years to book Todd as I felt it was the perfect gig for him, but it never happened.  GrassRoots was good enough. 

  Pat came with a buddy from Buffalo, Jason came from Rochester, and a guy who looked just like our brother/Jason's dad materialized from somewhere.  While we were standing around waiting for the set, we saw Todd and his manager, Brian, on the track, and like I often do when I'm talking, I took one of his lines and said, "Hey, let's go hassle him."  We had a good, long chat and then he did his set. 

  Pat and Bobby ran into him after the set and got a picture.

  John thinned down for this show.  He was back to his full weight when he came back to Ithaca for a show at the Hangar.  Jason made it back for that one too and managed to get blacklisted by Air BNB.  Those kinds of things happen after a Todd show.

The Burmese boys were into it as well, though I'm not sure what Eh Soe was listening to on his earbuds.  I insisted they go since I got a couple of them their wristbands.  They said they could relate to his songs, and the fact that he swore a lot helped.

  

As happens quite often at the Grandstand, the sound was a problem, but we were up front and his monitors were working fine so he kept playing until enough people farther back demanded they fix it.  It gave him a chance to mention that as long as the show is good for him, that's all that he really cares about.  They got the sound right for everyone and I bought this poster that's still displayed on our freezer door:

 

  Monday morning after GrassRoots is a tough time, but the dog still needs to be walked.  I had a suspicion (hope?) that the bus would be parked downtown as they had three days off on their schedule.  At the merch table after the set, I offered my services as a guide since I knew Todd and a couple of the entourage were avid walkers.  I located the bus before 7 AM.  I got distracted while leaving a note and gave him a name change.  If you haven't heard the story from me why Todd Snider Rules, then give it a listen from him:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMOhaJ3zst8

  An entire show from 2009 was posted upon his death.  It's already a favorite as it's professionally done for a community TV station in Colorado, coincidentally named GrassRoots (20 years before the festival of the same name in T-burg started).  In addition to the full show, there are pieces of an interview they did with him (and lots of commercials- it's community TV):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL6r9REITo8 

Founded by citizens of Aspen, Colorado in 1972, GrassRoots TV is the first and oldest community operated and programmed open-source media center and television station in the United States. Virtually all of the programming is created by local residents, occasionally with world renown guests. 

  He came back to town one more time after the pandemic and played the Hangar.  That was the last time he made it within 200 miles of Ithaca.  He had to take a couple years off from his version of the Never Ending Tour due to health complications that included two surgeries.  Thankfully, he recorded a few more shows from the Purple Building, put out a couple cds, and recorded each of his previous cds with stories about how they were originally recorded.  Then he made them all available for free download and on youtube.  The Purple Building is where he broadcast every Sunday during the pandemic and the regular listeners started calling him the preacher for our Sunday services.  It became a thing and the title of his next cd "First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder," where we hope there's another day and we wonder, what the fuck?  All those shows are still posted on youtube.  I recommend them all, but for something truly unique, the tributes he did after two of his mentors,  John Prine and Jerry Jeff Walker, died are fantastic.  I hope to make a pilgrimage there someday, I wish I'd done it before his death.  

  

Jason got there, but no one was around.  

  His death has really rocked me and a wide swath of the music world.  A few tributes have been written and posted with many more to come.  Now that I'm a semi-regular dj on WVBR's Salt Creek Show, I was able to go to the studio the day after hearing he died and played a couple sets of songs and told some stories.  I'll keep doing that whenever I host the the show.  Someone who toured with him, Otis Gibbs, has several interviews with him and some kind words that fill some of the void.  There are a few videos from the last show, the only one he did before cancelling the rest of the tour. 

  

  While I was on the radio on East Hill in Ithaca, this is how the sky looked in Trumansburg.  The County Fairgrounds, home of GrassRoots, is near the north end of the rainbow.
 

  Todd didn't just write and cover great songs, he wrote stories, some that he told between songs for 18 minutes, and some he included in a book called I Never Met a Story I Didn't Like.  Please return my copy if you have it (same goes for the cd Happy to be Here).  When the Village Voice was commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dylan coming to NY, they had Todd write an article that I read every six months or so.  In the article, he mentions this analogy about Dylan fans.  I think it's safe to say it about Todd fans too:

   

  There are so many lines from his songs and stories that make it into my daily conversation, "sorry coach" comes to mind often.  The kids at school often remind me it's too late for me to die young, but when someone my age goes it's a tough reminder it's still possible to die too soon.  With Todd, we probably got so much more than we deserved.  By his own admission, he could have gone decades ago, before the 20-some albums, the Purple Building shows and all the rest.  This two-part video of a young man who indulged in some dangerous substances is a reminder of how lucky we were to have him survive and thrive as long as he did: Part 1 and Part 2.  Some of his rough times led to covering songs that were a reminder to keep looking for the light.  Al Bunetta, John Prine's longtime manager and mentor to Todd, walked around the studio during a recording session singing "Enjoy Yourself" as a warning for where he might be headed.  Another time, he was trying to write a song about how people in the music business can fall down a hole and not come up.  He eventually gave up on writing a new song and just recorded Fred Eaglesmith's "Alcohol and Pills."

  I was fortunate to get on this bandwagon in the mid-90s, right after his first album came out.  I hope you get to appreciate it too.

 Todd Snider October 11, 1966- November 14, 2025

   Not Todd Snider, but posted by the AP and picked up by every website (including Fox "News") that carried a story about his injury, arrest and death two weeks later.  Todd would have told a great story about this, but this time, we have to write it ourselves.