paul mccartney's "good evening new york city" cd/dvd review

i picked up paul mccartney's "good evening new york city" cd/dvd release of his opening night show at citi field last summer on tuesday. i'm a big fan of paul - especially his days with wings - and it was major disappointment for me to have been in vermont when he took the stage in my back yard, so to speak. this combination audio/video turned out to be the next best thing!

the is one difference between the two medium - the cd does not contain much intersong chatter. watching the dvd - aside from the visual - includes paul's comments and interaction with the fans. that interaction isn't on the cd, most likely because of space limitations, so it has less intimacy - but great sound. if possible, watch the dvd performance first - before taking it out for a spin on your ipod!

the setlist is fantastic. he not only includes the beatles/wings standards that we would expect to hear - but paul tossed in plenty infrequently heard material to keep it interesting. old chestnuts ("mrs. vanderbilt") from wings, paul's solo material ("flaming pie"), and cuts from his "fireman" series ("electric arguments") found their way on stage! the only thing paul left off the table from his prolific catalog was the orchestral work! i think the fans didn't mind leaving the "liverpool oratorio" or symphonic poem, "standing stone" for another venue!

video images played behind him during the show, which added an interesting element to a few numbers. paul dedicated songs to john ("here today" - which brought tears to his eyes), george ("something") and linda ("my love"). and he was joined on stage by billy joel for "i saw her standing there" - who returned the favor when paul joined him last year for his performance at shea! through out the performance, paul rocked - and no problems keeping up with his much younger (or so it seemed) current band mates.

i picked up the standard edition release (2 cds/1 dvd). a deluxe edition (2 cds/2 dvds) was also released, which includes, among other things, paul's appearance on the david letterman show. for fans who missed that, it's worth going for the deluxe edition just to see the outdoor "mini-concert" that he performed on the marquee! but whichever you prefer, don't pass up mccartney at citi field. it'a a performance must for any paul mccartney fan!

2009 beaujolais nouveau est arrive!

i still get a thrill from the arrival of beaujolais nouveau - it just never gets old (pardon the pun)! on my way home from work today i'll stop off at zachys and pick up a bottle or two of the just arrived georges debouf beaujolais nouveau. later, and slightly chilled, i hope to pair it with some pizza for dinner tonight!

last year my stop at zachys was a modest let-down because their shipment was late. luckily, plan b kicked in and i picked up a couple of bottles at a wine store across town. in any event, i'm looking forward to tasting some young fresh wine at dinner tonight :D

2009 great american smokeout - quit smoking today!!

going strong since 1977, another great american smokeout has arrived! it's hard to believe a year has flown by since my post on the 2008 smokeout! the reasons for quitting are still the same, and even more urgent if you didn't quit (or at least make an effort) last year!

plenty of altruistic reasons for quitting - but, bottom line, do it for yourself. give yourself some respect and stop filling your body with poison!!

QUIT TODAY!!

and, since the great american smokeout coincides with beaujolais nouveau day (both on the third thursday in november), ease the withdrawal with a bottle of fresh french wine :D

2009 terry ryan memorial 10k: race report

the 8th annual terry memorial 10k race was my second race of the day, on the heels of the nyrr cross country championships 5k in van cortlandt park that morning. emmy and i had an easy drive from van cortlandt park to hastings and met rob when we reached the high school. last year the three of us car pooled to the race, but rob skipped the trip into the city for the 5k this time around. tom also made the trip from van cortlandt and then ran the 5k in hastings.

before the race, i met my old wtc teammates, gregg and mark, and my current trrc teammate, tom, all of whom were in the 5k. then i ran into ned in street clothes, who wasn't in either race. he was there to cheer on his hometown event and then had to go to work. ned ran the 5k last year - and who i recently ran into at the athlete's village on staten island earlier this month at the nyc marathon. hard to believe there was actually a race with that much socializing :D

the 10k course is a double loop of the 5k. there is one notable hill (long climb is more precise) which follows the portion of the yonkers marathon course. the marathoners run down the hill (north) while we climb it (south). there are some good views of the hudson river along this stretch. however, the most notable moment along this road wasn't the incline - but the pair of deer that ran across my path during the second loop!! that sighting fit van cortlandt park more easily than the roads of hastings (even as bucolic as they are)!

i ran the first 5k in 21:50, almost 30 seconds slower than it took me to run the same loop last year (21:17). i had no particular time goal in mind, but though i could finish the race in about 43 minutes. i ran the second loop in 21:06, roughly 40 seconds slower than 2008 (20:25), and finished in 43:06 - well off my 2008 41:42. as i pointed out in last year's race report, the 10k course is short (closer to 6 miles instead of a full 6.2 miles) - because it doesn't retrace the entire 5k loop a second time.

all in all, it was a great way to spend the afternoon!

here are my race photos.

here are some 2008 race photos.

nyrr cross country championships 5k: race report

the nyrr cross county championship race at van cortlandt park was my third xc 5k at van cortlandt park in the last month (with the harry murphy and kurt steiner races in october)! it's actually my 4th race at van cortlandt if i look back to the henry isola xc 4 miler held at the end of august! there may even be one more vanny race left in my season, the pete mccardle 15k - but it's been moved back to mid-december from its traditional late-november date. i love the 15k - which is 3 loops of the 5k course - but the later date may conflict with another race favorite (so have to wait and see).

the xc championships had a large (as expected) field and that led to a crowded start. i was 10-15 feet from the start line and it seemed to take eons not just to cross it, but for the pack to thin out. it wasn't until the end of the opening straightaway across the flats - as the pack turned left, in fact, that it finally opened up! i hardly grouse about slow starts, but with the chain link fence bordering the field - it had an almost claustrophobic feel to it. aside from that minor gripe, the rest of the race was great.

the field included many (and i should say van cortlandt recidivists) familiar faces: emmy, sue, and tom - just to mention the same trio that ran the other three van cortlandt races i just listed above! also, a taconic teammates, bob, joe, and tim, were in the race. and, in a post-race photo surprise, it turned out my friend michael's daughter, jana, running for fordham, was also in the field. two running friends there, but not in the race, michael and chip, took some great photos. and, michael's kids ran in the pre-race fun run. and chip took that shot of my finish!

as for the race itself, no mile markers. but it did hear my 1 mile split (6:30) called out by a cptc volunteer on the course. in a repeat of the harry murphy 5k, i found myself walking to the crest of the second of the back hills. that was not only discouraging, but knocked my time back 20-30 seconds. to make up for that lapse in concentration i picked up the pace significantly (or so it seemed) in the last mile. i crossed the finish in 21:47, a 7:01 pace. amazingly, that was 5 seconds faster than my harry murphy finish (21:52)!

while i was annoyed at myself for the walk break, i was still pleased with the time because i managed to shrug off the walk setback and push the last mile. two good miles out of three ain't bad - ha (apologizes to meatloaf)! after some post-race socializing emmy and i drove to hasting were we met up with rob and ran the terry ryan memorial 10k.

here are some race photos.

next up: the knickerbocker 60k in central park this weekend.

2009 terry ryan memorial 10k: photos and results

the 2009 terry ryan memorial 10k in hastings was my second race of the day (on the heels of the nyrr cross country 5k championships in van cortlandt park). it was a return trip to this race - with much nicer conditions than the cold and blustery weather at the 2008 edition). while the 43:06 finish was slower than my 2008 result (41:42), i was still pleased with the outcome.

here is my race report, and here are the race results.

here are some pictures:





here are a few more race photos.

and here are some pictures from the 2008 race.

nyrr cross country championships: race photos and results

this morning i ran the nyrr cross country championships 5k at van cortlandt park (my third 5k at van cortlandt in the last month). that was the first of a pair of races i ran today (the second, in the afternoon, was the terry ryan memorial 10k in hastings). after a very slow (crowded) start, i managed a 21:50 for the 5k.

here is my short race report, and here are the race results from nyrr.

and a few pictures:

here are a few more photos.