The World According To Mel

What's on my iPod?

2011-10-17T21:20:00.000-04:00

Time for a little fun...

I just wanted to share my list of songs that I've been listening to for the past few months. Most of my favorite musicians are working on their "own terms"...meaning that they're taking a long break. Aside from the latest Daryl Hall album "Laughing Down Crying" (which is one of his best solo efforts since the 1993 album "Soul Alone"), there really isn't a whole lot going on from some of the veterans of the 1970s or 1980s. Even at my seasoned age of 45, I still listen to a lot of today's music via Top 40/hit radio. Let's face it...a good song is a good song, no matter who sings it or what genre it comes from.

Take a look at the list below...it's the result of missing a lot of my favorite acts of the 1970s and 1980s. It might just surprise you!

Maroon 5/Christina Aguilera - "Moves Like Jagger" (never was a Maroon 5 fan, but this song smelled like a hit the moment it hit the radio airwaves...got a great hook from beginning to end)
Katy Perry - "California Gurls" [No Rap Version]
Guy Sebastian featuring Eve - "Who's That Girl"
Ke$ha - "Take It Off"
JTX - "Love In America"
Selena Gomez & The Scene - "Love You Like A Love Song"
Taio Cruz - "Dynamite"
Jessie J - "Domino"
LMFAO - "Party Rock Anthem"
Britney Spears - "I Wanna Go"
The Black Eyed Peas - "The Time (Dirty Bit)"
Cobra Starship featuring Sabi - "You Make Me Feel..."
Katy Perry - "Teenage Dream"
Enrique Iglesias - "Tonight" (uncensored version)
Afrojack featuring Eva Simons - "Take Over Control"
Ke$ha - "We R Who We R"
Usher featuring Pitbull - "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love"
Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull - "On The Floor"
Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer - "Give Me Everything"
Nicole Scherzinger - "Don't Hold Your Breath" (Kat Crazy Remix)
Ke$ha - "Blow"
LMFAO - "Sexy And I Know It"
Katy Perry - "Firework"
Foster The People - "Pumped Up Kicks"
Jennifer Lopez - "Papi"
Aloe Blacc - "I Need A Dollar" (this seems like the oddball of the bunch, but I just began hearing this on the radio recently and it reminded me of those classic Bill Withers songs like "Ain't No Sunshine")
Rhianna - "We Found Love"
Lady Gaga - "You And I" [Danny Verde Remix]
Katy Perry - "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" [Almighty Club Mix]

Time to complain...but will it work?

2011-04-21T14:20:00.008-04:00

So I understand that when you direct your complaints and concerns to Twitter, usually the problems are taken care of rather quickly on the corporate end so that a problem doesn't become "viral" as they say in today's techno-geek language. Well, I had a legitimate criticism of one company that unfortunately is falling on deaf ears and it is my hope that perhaps the "corporate suits" will finally hear about it.

I recently got in touch with Domino's Pizza through their website and had nothing but praise for them. After all, I spent the summers and winters of 1987-1989 delivering those pies in Medford, NJ to offset my college tuition. Through that experience, I became a huge fan of Domino's Pizza.

In May 1988, I decided to return to Domino's Pizza to work for the summer. Two weeks removed from a very bad car accident, I wanted to drive again, listen to the radio, scarf down some pizza, make money, etc. Six days a week during that summer, I worked my ass off, sometimes going overtime, but all in all I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, despite having a rough few months in college prior to the accident. And on my days off, I would head to the Jersey shore, whether it was Seaside Heights, Long Beach Island or Wildwood...I had that luxury to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Moving on, my life took me through different phases and turns throughout the 1990s and 2000s. But I never lost my love for the brand of pizza that helped me through the late 1980s.

That brings me to my point and it pains me to explain it, but here goes.

I always found it a sticking point and yes, I can be a bit critical on my opinion of it, but when I came back to Domino's Pizza in May 1988, I noticed that something had slightly changed from the last time I was there. They replaced the big bulky brick ovens in favor of the conveyor belt ovens. The reasoning behind this was that it produced pizzas much quicker and less chances of being in the oven too long for the pies to burn. Great for the drivers and the store because it reduced the amount of late delivery guarantees the company had to pay out. It was also good for the consumer because they could literally have a couple of pizzas delivered to them within 10 to 15 minutes and not cut close to 30 minutes or beyond. However, the disadvantage of those "conveyor belt" pies was that the texture of each bite you would take had changed. No longer as crispy as they used to be, they were more chewy, almost like biting into cardboard. I was able to look past that for over 23 years and still enjoyed what Domino's Pizza had to offer.

Fast forward to the present day, I saw that Domino's were going back to the people and asking them how to make their pizza better. The TV commercials had you believe that one person's opinion mattered when it came to taste, quality, service, etc. So yes, I went to Domino's website and explained everything here on this blog and how I was impressed that they were willing to listen to what their customers had to say. I even explained to them, respectfully, that in order to improve on their pizza, I told them of the scenario on how brick oven baked pizzas are so much better than conveyor belt baked pies.

This is what Domino's Pizza had to say about my idea:

Mel,

Thank you for taking the time to contact the Domino's Pizza Customer Care Team.

You recently submitted an idea to Domino's Pizza LLC or one of its affiliated companies. While we appreciate your interest in Domino's Pizza, we have a company policy not to accept, consider or review unsolicited ideas or suggestions. As we are sure you can understand we have adopted this policy for legal reasons to avoid confusion or misunderstanding regarding the ownership of an idea or submission. Therefore, your idea has not been forwarded or retained.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us and for understanding the need for our policy. We appreciate your interest and enthusiasm and hope Domino's Pizza can continue to serve you as a loyal customer.

Most sincerely,

Tesia
Domino's Pizza Customer Care

Can you believe that shit? I mean, wow...I never felt so blown off like I was from that e-mail. Any faith I had in Domino's Pizza customer care was shot down the toilet. So you mean to tell me that those TV commercials on how to make a better pizza was all a bunch of bull? Needless to say, I was disappointed with Domino's and their terse response to my suggestion, when their TV commercials had said that if you had anything that could improve on your experience with them, let them know. Well, I did and basically they told me to drop dead.

I hope you can repost this so that others can learn that the corporate suits will turn a deaf ear to the consumer because if it didn't come from them, your idea is no good with them. What a shame...that's almost like being a fan of Bon Jovi only to find out that when meeting the guy, he's really a fucking dick.

Now when I think of Domino's Pizza, my stomach gets that rumbling. However, it isn't from hunger, but from the uneasy feeling I got from the company that I had truly enjoyed for many years and how I ended up being crapped on just to give my honest suggestion. I even took my issue to Domino's account on Twitter, hoping that someone there would listen, and they did for a little bit until I explained the e-mail that I had sent.

Domino's Pizza on Twitter then blew me off...just like the e-mail from their customer care department did.

Has it been 25 years already?

2009-06-03T18:10:00.007-04:00

This past weekend, I got a chance to step back in time to 1984. Now before you think I'm writing about some science fiction time travel story, this required no machine nor some scientific anomaly to make this possible. It was the long anticpated reunion for the Cherry Hill High School West Class Of 1984 and one that myself along with other fellow classmates who attended will not soon forget.

Some time ago, I joined Facebook, but it was only last November that my old classmates from high school started to find me. With one friend after another, I was quickly racking them up in my friend count. But I didn't want to just add them on as friends just for the sake of it. Rather, I wanted to get a glimpse of their current lives through pictures, postings, stories, etc. But one thing many of us were discussing was the forthcoming year of 2009...the year that marks our 25th anniversary since graduating high school. And with that being said, myself and my classmates can't hide the fact that we share one thing...we're all over 40 years old and darn proud of it!

For many of us, #25 was a significant number and one that I believe was a no-brainer...we had to get together for one big blowout of a reunion. Suddenly, the anticipation began as soon as the new year hit. We talked about plans to set aside the last weekend in May to accomodate the event. We talked about how it was going to go down, where it should be held and to find the other classmates who may not have heard about it and the personal steps we were taking to better our health and try to look our best!

Of course not everyone would be able to attend. Some lived very far from Cherry Hill, NJ while others had other plans that prevented them from attending. For those who couldn't make it, I'm sure you were there in spirit as many of us were thinking about you. A classmate named Jeff that I knew since elementary school was unable to make the reunion, however he had a great idea and put together a small gathering at Kaminski's on Brace Road for the day prior to the event. For me, I had to scramble around and make sure I got out of work at 5 p.m. that Friday to zip on down the New Jersey Turnpike from Bergen County all the way down to Camden County. After a quick bite, I headed to Kaminski's and wandered around for about 5 minutes. For a brief moment, I thought 2 things...I was either at the right place, wrong time or I got there way too early. As I stared up the flat screen TV's watching the Philadelphia Phillies put an early beating on the Washington Nationals, someone shouted out my name. I approached the table and saw 4 guys...Jeff, Barry, Eric and Jay. Suddenly, the smile on my face was for the moment stuck with me through the weekend. We all talked about old times, things we're doing now, etc. In that brief moment, we all thought a few others would later join us for a total of approximately 10, however much to our surprise, a total of approximately 40 of our classmates showed up for the mini-reunion! The moment for me was surreal...I saw former classmates I hadn't seen in nearly 25 years. For those few hours, we talked and celebrated our 25th year since high school graduation. We truly believed we were in the year 1984!

Saturday finally arrived. I barely even had a chance to sleep due to the excitement surrounding the reunion later that evening. In the past, our class had a 10 year reunion at a country club in 1994 and the 20 year reunion at a hotel in 2004. Both were good events, however many of us thought a nice relaxed casual atmosphere would be best suited for a monumental occasion. Steve and Gillian, who were our class leaders and arranged the previous reunions, did not disappoint this year. It was held at P.J. Whelihan's in Cherry Hill and it was beyond perfect. From the moment I walked in there, it was magical, yet surreal. We had a room all to ourselves for the better part of the evening. There were so many familiar faces that my head was turning left and right for most of the night because I was afraid I would miss someone. Classmates I hadn't seen in so long talked about how it was just an amazing experience to be there reminisce about good times from the days we were growing up from grammar school all the way to our senior year in high school. We talked about the field trips, the practical jokes, the stunts that even our teachers participated in and countless other stories too numerous to mention. In the end, we all celebrated our time together and the memories we all shared that will carry with us for a long time. Again, for that evening, it was 1984 all over again.

Thanks to Facebook, I'm able to remain in touch with many of those classmates I got the privilege to see this past weekend. I'm sure many of them will agree that we really have a great bunch of people in our class that are sure to meet up again, certainly much sooner than waiting for another 25 years!

I've posted some photos online at my photo album page at http://maniacmel.smugmug.com. Hope you get a chance to check some of them out.

May 30, 2009...truly an evening many of us will never forget!

Been a while since I wrote anything, but I got a good story to tell ya!

2009-02-08T15:05:00.003-05:00

Sorry for not keeping up with this blog. I've been wrapped up with the Philadelphia Phillies in their quest to what eventually became a World Series championship for them back in October. And then the Philadelphia Eagles almost got into the Super Bowl, but it was not meant to be. In any event, I've gotten pretty lax with posting anything on my blog, but suddenly I have the inspiration to write again. Also, you can see my short regular postings on the radio station's website at www.wsus1023.com/pages/melandrews.html.

Over a year ago, I joined Facebook, but I hadn't been very active with it until recently. That's when all my college and high school friends started to find me and all of a sudden, I'm adding friends left and right. On top of that, it got me to reminisce about some of the good times I had from those days gone by. One story I want to share with you goes back all the way to 1977 when I was in the 5th grade. My old elementary school classmates will appreciate this one, since back in 1994, I went to my 10th year high school reunion and Joann who goes all the way back to my childhood days reminded me of this and then at my 20th year reunion, Matt, also from my elementary school days brought that story up again, yet I was never able to put it in print...until now.

The year was 1977 and I was 10 years old when this crazy story happened. Evel Kinevel was all the rage with his death defying stunts with his motorcycle jumping over multiple buses. My 5th grade teacher was a great and funny guy who did his job well, though when I look back on it, he might have had a few screws loose. One day, he decided to line up the students one by one like "buses" because he was gonna attempt to leap over all the kids like Evel Kinevel. Then he went to pick one last kid to be the one at the end of the lineup. Yep, you guessed it...it was me! Often times, I'll exaggerate when I say there were 13 of us, but you might as well have named me the unlucky 13th kid at this stunt that our crazy 5th grade teacher was gonna attempt to do. So there I am on my hands and knees like the rest of the kids like "buses" and our teacher was "revving" his engines, "VROOM, VROOM" was coming from him and all the kids were encouraging him, "You can do it"! I think the other teachers were holding their breath, thinking there's no way he's gonna do it. Meanwhile, little old me at 10 years old and 65 pounds soaking wet was thinking of the possibility of this 200 pound man crashing down on me. He makes his "VROOM, VROOM" sound again and off he went! In what probably would be viewed in slow motion by those who were there, that crazy 5th grade teacher cleared all of us and all the kids cheered and crowded around him like he won the World Championship. Meanwhile, my eyes were bulging and relieved over the fact that he made it. I think I caught a glimpse of the other teachers breathing sighs of relief. It was the end of the school day and we all went home happy.

Sorry, there is no photographic evidence of this stunt. But my elementary school classmates who were there will vouch for this.

Oddly enough, I don't believe any of the kids ever told their parents of what had transpired on that crazy day. However in 2009, I don't think any teacher would ever try anything as bizarre as that...think of all the lawsuits that school would have had! Ah, the good old days when everyone was allowed to have a little fun!

Daryl Hall live in concert with Mutlu

2008-07-13T15:40:00.001-04:00

I had the pleasure of seeing Daryl Hall in concert last night at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA with Mutlu as the opening act. What a fantastic show!

This is what I remember from the setlist (not necessarily in order)

You Make My Dreams
Everything Your Heart Desires
When The Morning Comes
Perkiomen (lucky me, a request I shouted out and was granted)
Cab Driver
Can't Stop Dreaming
Stop Loving Me, Stop Loving You
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
I'm In A Philly Mood (undoubtedly the BEST version I've ever heard)
It's A Laugh
Sara Smile (a very laid back, beautiful arrangement)
Maneater (the reggae version)
It's Uncanny
Rich Girl

1st Encore with Mutlu
See What It Brings
Adult Education
Foolish Pride

2nd Encore
Dreamtime

Opening act Mutlu was great too! I purchased his CD at the New York show and got a chance to listen to it when I headed to the Philly area on Friday night. I wanted to tell him how much I enjoyed the CD, but I didn't get a chance to do that because there was a HUGE crowd at both the intermission and after the show looking to meet him and purchase his CD...local Philly boy does well!

All in all, everything comes full circle for yours truly...I got to experience Daryl Hall as a solo performer in 2004 in Philadelphia and New York and now in 2008, I was privileged to experience it all over again. On top of that, watching Mutlu (who I've seen previously on a Live From Daryl's House episode) as the opening act and during the encore made me a fan of his. His CD "Livin' It" comes out on Tuesday, so make sure you get one...I highly recommend it!

The 1980s still sounds good today...

2008-03-26T17:30:00.005-04:00

I was watching the news yesterday morning and one bit was featuring a thing that's been sweeping the internet called "Rickroll". You might ask, "what does that mean"? Well, the average person who surfs the internet clicks onto a link for whatever reason and out of the blue, the Rick Astley video "Never Gonna Give You Up" starts playing. Simple as that...you've been "Rickrolled". News organizations here in the U.S. seem to be slow as they only recently have picked up the story on this strange phenomenon; the practice of "Rickrolling" has been going on for over a year and a half!

Why would people do this? Call it what you will, but the song itself is an instant 80s classic. There's a reason why the song gets stuck in your head...it's a good song! But idiots out there keep labeling it as "80s cheese", portraying it as one of those songs you'd rather forget. What a bunch of garbage. In my opinion, a good song is a good song, no matter what era it came from. It's a lot better than the "shoot em up" gangsta rap, much better than the angry "I wanna kill myself" rock of the 90s, and other crap that has been shoved down the mainstream's consciousness over the past 18 years.

Instead of "Rickrolling" you, I thought it would be better to showcase a good song that can hold up after 20 years, so here's a video of Rick Astley performing "Never Gonna Give You Up" on British television back in 2005. It pretty much boils down to the old adage...take the song, strip it down to its basics all the way down to its organic core and in the end, you'll still have a great song. Hope you enjoy!

Things are awfully slow at this time of the year...

2008-03-16T14:45:00.004-04:00

Just wanted to drop by and say "hello" and let you know that all is well in my world and I hope you're doing well too!

Not much to report at this time, but I am heading to southern NJ to visit my family for Easter weekend. I promised myself that I would get at least a couple of panzarottis once I arrived. This is the disadvantage of growing up in southern NJ and then moving away from the area...you miss the local flavor and eateries that were part of your youthful days. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the panzarotti, check out the following YouTube video. Disclaimer: I will not be held responsible for those who go off their diet...

I am going to be flying the friendly skies again this year. This May, I will head to Texas for my brother's graduation, which will involve a 6 hour road trip to Oklahoma. In June, I head to Las Vegas for some business and a little fun. And then I go to Denver in September for business again. I haven't flown this much since 2004 and I get this weird feeling that there's probably more traveling to come this year. I hope so...I thoroughly enjoy flying to a different city, especially one that I haven't been to before, just to see the varied cultures and taste some of the local cuisines.

Finally, I am posting a couple of photos that were shot off my iPhone just last week. Rather than describe them, I'll just say that they are a "before and after" set.

A new year, my thoughts on the holiday season and more...

2008-01-06T14:30:00.000-05:00

Hope you all had a Happy New Year!

With that being said, I did what many other average males do...wait until the last minute to do the Christmas shopping for my family. All told, I got it all done within a matter of 24 hours prior to the family gathering for the annual gift-opening event. Looks like Santa Claus was good to everyone, including yours truly. And we even got to have a nice Christmas dinner as well...check out the family photo above...yes, we were all gathered together in one house!

Right before Christmas, I treated myself to a terrific Christmas show from Daryl Hall & John Oates in Philadelphia. The mix of holiday and classic Hall & Oates tunes made for a truly memorable night in Center City Philadelphia. The entire hometown crowd showed nothing but love and respect not only for the band, but also for the entire setlist served up that night in December. Pictures of that evening can be found on my photo album page at http://maniacmel.smugmug.com/.

While I was browsing around the malls, electronic stores and shopping centers, I noticed that the big ticket items were HDTVs, video game systems like PlayStation 3 and Wii, next generation hi-def Blu-ray and HD-DVD players, etc. Well, I am here to tell you that despite the fact that I witnessed many people purchasing the cheaper HD-DVD players, the fact of the matter is that it's Blu-ray that's going to win this hi-def format war. Yes, this is the "VHS vs. Betamax" war happening all over again, except this time, I predict that Blu-ray will be the perennial winner and end the format war rather quickly. With Warner Bros. announcing their full support of Blu-ray beginning in June 2008, this could be the smoking gun that puts the HD-DVD format out of its misery. Yet, the burning question does ask...what will those people who recently purchased the cheaper HD-DVD players do when there won't be as many movies coming out as 2008 and beyond progresses forward? I can only sit there and laugh at those unfortunate folks who didn't follow the old saying "you get what you pay for"...

With 2008 in full swing, I can't predict what I have planned for this year. The only thing I hope for is that I'll live as much as I can throughout the year as much as I've done in the past years gone by.

Rare Genesis video footage!

2007-11-04T00:07:00.000-04:00

I was just goofing around one day on the computer and came across some great, yet rarely ever seen video from Genesis. I had the pleasure of seeing them at Giants Stadium this past September and they sounded terrific.

One thing someone had asked me recently...did Genesis ever play any of their solo hits? Well, the answer is here on the YouTube video below...I remember this quite well as it originated from New York's Madison Square Garden and was aired live on HBO back in May 1988, celebrating Atlantic Records 40th anniversary with a mega concert that lasted well over 6 hours. To the best of my knowledge, not only has this footage never aired again, but Genesis never played their solo songs since that day.

The video contains excerpts from the "Turn It On Again" hits medley, which includes "You Can't Hurry Love" (Phil Collins), "Shortcut To Somewhere" (Fish & Tony Banks) and "All I Need Is A Miracle" (Mike + The Mechanics), along with "That's All" and "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight". Enjoy!

I just got a brand new iPhone!

2007-10-28T09:55:00.000-04:00

Yep, the cool new cell phone by Apple was something I first resisted when it was released back in June of this year, however, Apple saw fit to drop the price by $200 and make a few modifications as well. So that's when I decided to get my hands on one since my AT&T contract allowed me to upgrade my current plan without penalty. In the process, I will be ultimately saving about $30 a month on my monthly phone bill. Sweet deal, eh?

The iPhone is loaded with lots of cool features and also includes an iPod. Also, whenever I'm in a WiFi zone, I'm able to access iTunes and download songs directly onto my phone. It's able to view YouTube videos as well. Speaking of which, I've posted a short video, which you can see right here...

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies!

2007-10-01T15:23:00.000-04:00

Congratulations go out to the Philadelphia Phillies for staying true to their game. Their focus on being the best has paid off and their patience has been rewarded with the National League East title. The Mets have nothing to be ashamed of; they held onto 1st place for a better part of the 2007 season. Unfortunately for the Mets, things in life happen for a reason.

Moving forward, the only thing a Phillies fan can say is...GO PHILLIES!

Celebrating Christmas in July and other Hall & Oates stuff...

2007-07-29T15:41:00.001-04:00

I must be crazy for doing this. As I was leaving work at the end of the day, I was whistling to the tune of "Winter Wonderland". After all, there are some who actually break out the Christmas CDs and start getting into the holiday mood again. For me, I listened to Daryl Hall & John Oates' Home For Christmas CD and their live Christmas CD that was recorded back in December 2006 in New York City. I was reflecting back to Christmas Day last year when I visited my brother Mark and his family. Late on Christmas Eve, he told his kids Ariel and Riley to go to sleep so that Santa can bring them their presents. Excited, they whisked themselves up to their rooms and slept through the night. During this time, Mark and his wife Andrea were bringing out "Santa's gifts" and fearing that Ariel would recognize their handwriting, I was the one who had to play the role of the mythical Santa and sign the cards attached to their respective gifts. On top of that, I had to eat the cookies and drink the milk that was left for Santa. The next morning, Ariel came down with her dad to prepare breakfast. All of a sudden, I hear Ariel's shrieks of excitement, stating that "Santa was here, Daddy"! He asked how that was possible. She said that the cookies and milk were gone and there were a lot of presents under the Christmas tree. One look into Ariel's eyes told a world of joy and happiness surrounding her on that holiday. Riley soon came down as well and was equally thrilled to see that Santa had delivered.

Speaking of Hall & Oates, I was fortunate enough to catch a couple of shows at the Nokia Theatre in New York City a few weeks ago. Though my legs and back were quite tired after standing out there for a couple of days, I was treated to two unique nights of rock & soul from the duo from Philadelphia. Here's some video I posted on YouTube of their show on July 12th. Hope you enjoy it!

Happy Father's Day to my late dad

2007-06-17T12:09:00.000-04:00

I spent today quietly remembering my dad as this the first Father's Day without him. It's impossible not to think of him on this day no matter where I look, whether at the store, surfing online on the web, or just simply watching TV, because I'm reminded of this day from others' who are either fathers themselves or have one that's still here. At this time of the year, I used to go to the card shop and pick up something for him to let Dad know that I was still thinking of him. This year, I felt as if I wanted to go and get a card for him, but reality set in and I knew that he had already passed late last summer. I found it very difficult to go to the mall this past week, seeing all sorts of reminders about Father's Day.

This is one of those pivotal days in my dad's life that he would go spend a weekend with my mom in Atlantic City, taking in a show and dumping quarters in the slot machines. I knew Dad always looked forward to traveling east to the World's Famous Playground. Mom would always tell the story about how Dad would plunk down quarters on one machine at any given casino while she would try one spot, give up and try another. But Dad wasn't one of those people who would "spy" on someone haplessly losing money on a machine and then "hop" onto it once that person gave up on it. One late night, my mom got tired and retreated to the hotel room, while Dad continued to play on with the one-armed bandit. Just 10 minutes later, as described by my mom, Dad returned to the hotel room with a smile that probably had to be surgically removed. Mom had asked him why he was grinning. He told her that he just won $1200.00!

Dad was also a brilliant architect; the firm he worked with in Philadelphia was responsible for designing Citizen's Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. One of his close co-workers, Pete, described him as a mentor to the young and lesser experienced architects. Though he lacked in computer skills, his drawings were in such great detail that a computer could never replicate what he could accomplish. Pretty amazing for someone who could have retired 8 or 9 years ago, but decided to continue doing what he loved. And all that time, my brothers and I always thought he was just the old guy that hung around the office all day, eating donuts and street vendor hot dogs and soft pretzels.

Happy Father's Day, Dad...you are truly missed.

A benefit for someone in need...

2007-05-02T19:45:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, myself along with a couple of friends went to see our friend and colleague Vince. Right now, he's in the battle for his life as he was recently diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, so rare that there are less than 20 cases like his throughout the world, yet only one case in the United States, which happens to be him. So far, he's been going through some aggressive chemotherapy in New York and like a fighter, he's being upbeat and positive about it.

Our radio station, 102.3 WSUS-FM in Franklin, NJ has organized a benefit for Vince and his family. I hope you will join my colleagues, friends and myself on Saturday June 2, 2007 from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. or 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for a special brunch fundraiser for Vince and his family. It will be held at LiBerti's Restaurant on Route 23 in Wantage, NJ and more details can be found on the 102.3 WSUS website. All money raised will help Vince and his family with expenses incurred fighting this extremely rare cancer.

You can also read Vince's story on the CaringBridge website.

"Rocky Balboa" on DVD & Blu-Ray

2007-03-31T20:41:00.000-04:00

Yep, everyone's favorite underdog Rocky Balboa dons the boxing gloves again and steps into the ring one last time and this movie's a winner. It's currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray disc...that's right, I'm endorsing Blu-Ray as the perennial winner in the format war of high definition discs, but that will be on another topic at another time...

In the meantime, check out my brother Mario's blog at marioajero.blogspot.com and the link below as he does a great rendition of Bill Conti's "Alone In The Ring".

Even funnier than the Geico commercials!

2007-01-14T13:22:00.000-05:00

One day, I was hanging out at my family house in southern NJ and my brother Mike and I were just chilling out, watching ESPN. During a commercial break, there was an ad for Jack Link's Beef Jerky. Rather than give you the details about it, I'll let you watch the video posted below and you can laugh as hard as you want. I almost pissed in my pants after seeing it for the first time...

The only full Hall & Oates Christmas show of the year!

2006-12-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it. I managed to win tickets to the China Club show in New York City to see my favorite act Daryl Hall & John Oates, performing their music along with some songs from their latest CD Home For Christmas. This must be my lucky time of the year as I looked forward to this past Monday night's show and Hall & Oates did not disappoint.

There was this cool Marvin Gaye t-shirt I had purchased in Manhattan this past Saturday night. I felt that it was the perfect outfit to wear for the show, since I knew both Daryl Hall & John Oates were big Marvin Gaye fans. It caught my eye as I was leaving the t-shirt shop that Saturday evening, so immediately I had to turn around and go right back into the store on 42nd Street to get it.

Originally, I was anticipating a full blown tour to support Hall & Oates' new Christmas album, but it never panned out. So lucky for me and the rest of the people fortunate to live in the northeast and win tickets to this special show, we got to see a very unique, yet rare performance by Daryl & John, unlike any other show they've ever done.

Here's the setlist on what they played that night:

Home For Christmas
Christmas Must Be Tonight
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
Children Go Where I Send Thee
The Christmas Song
Jingle Bell Rock
Maneater
Say It Isn't So
One On One
Sara Smile
I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
Rich Girl

Encore

Oh Holy Night

What a terrific night to see Daryl Hall & John Oates perform a completely different setlist than what many fans had been accustomed to in the past, thanks to the Christmas season. John Oates simply put in a brilliant performance of "The Christmas Song". And Daryl Hall's take on "Oh Holy Night" was a fitting end to a great night of Christmas music and their greatest hits. There won't be any more performances from them for this album for the rest of the year, but you can purchase their album Home For Christmas at TransWorld stores throughout the U.S.

I took lots of pictures of the China Club show and you can check them out at my photo album page. The web address is http://maniacmel.smugmug.com

Merry Christmas!

Taking full advantage of a company's demise...

2006-12-03T10:30:00.000-05:00

News of Tower Records closing their shops came a few weeks ago and with that, a major liquidation sale began. Over the last few weeks, they've slashed prices from 30% to around 85% of their merchandise. With Tower Records folding in just a few short weeks, it signals another sign of the times...many consumers would rather download mp3s, whether legally or illegally (especially those cheap punk teenage kids), instead of having an actual CD in their hands, with a CD booklet filled with liner notes and lyrics.

For over 22 years, I've shopped at various Tower Records locations throughout New York City, Philadelphia, Cherry Hill, Paramus and Nanuet. I could always count on them to carry a wide variety of products, ranging from music, movies and audio/video hardware. But in the last few years, and believe me, I'm not totally blaming internet downloading (I'm guilty of it myself), but chain stores like Best Buy have come in to kick ass with their competitive pricing. Yes, I found myself shopping at Best Buy because I got the best deals there when it came to music CDs and movies on DVD. In fact, when I scrape up enough cash, I plan to purchase a Samsung HDTV at Best Buy, simply for their immediate availability and low prices.

That doesn't go without saying that I'm milking Tower Records' misfortune into my goldmine. Over the past few weeks, I've purchased CDs, DVDs and magazines for dirt cheap. Tower completely blew it over the past few years by not staying competitive. The people behind the counters seem to be more concerned about where their next body piercing is going to be located. Kind of leads me to believe that Tower Records hired for cheap and these punk losers needed a job that didn't require them to take a course in French Fries 101.

So if you have a Tower Records location near you, get to it now before they shut down because you might find something you always wanted, but never got it because it was overpriced. As of this writing, the minimum percentage off list price is 50%. And the saying goes, "If you wait for it to become cheaper, it may not be here next week".

Standing out in the cold New York air!

2006-11-22T23:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it again. I attended the NBC live broadcast of The Today Show on Wednesday November 22nd and got my ugly mug on live network television for all to see. This was quite a unique experience as it was way too cold for me to handle, but like a trouper, I hung in there with the rest of them.

Of course, there was a reason to my madness. My favorite pop musical act, Daryl Hall & John Oates were performing live at Rockefeller Plaza to promote their latest album, Home For Christmas, so I made the trek to New York at 3 a.m. and scoped the area for an hour before deciding to park my car in a garage. It wasn't too bad waiting in line at first, but as the night progressed and moved towards daylight, it got colder and I had to suck it up. If it had rained or snowed, I would have had a gut check at that point and I think insanity would have won out and me catching the flu or pneumonia. I thank my lucky stars that didn't happen. If I wanted to check out Hall & Oates performing live in the cold, I was gonna do it, regardless of the weather. Extra layers of clothes and a pair of warm gloves helped out.

Songs they performed included "You Make My Dreams", "Sara Smile", "Say It Isn't So", "She's Gone", "Rich Girl" and "Home For Christmas".

Anyway, I hope you get to check out my photos at my photo album site as I'm really happy the way the shots came out and hope you get to enjoy them as well. In the meantime, here's one of those shots that I took from the front row.

Two more Geico commercials for great laughs and a movie trailer!

2006-10-25T12:09:00.000-04:00

Cavemen rule! Many of you have seen the following spot with the caveman at the airport...

Here's one in a mock news broadcast debate...

And now there's a new 90 second trailer making its rounds! Could it be real? Perhaps a new Geico cavemen movie?

Going to the hospital for minor surgery...

2006-10-05T18:55:00.000-04:00

Well, for the first time in my life, I will be going under the knife and gassed up, so to speak, as I head into the hospital on Friday October 20th to have my gall bladder removed. Ouch!

After consulting with my doctor and the surgeon, I felt it was best to get it done now or regret it later in life. There's no dire emergency to go through this procedure, though the risks involved are quite minimal. With that being said, I admit I'm very concerned about the outcome of the operation. The surgeon assured me that now was the time to get it done while I'm still young. Ha ha!

I was told that all that would be involved would be some tiny incisions, then they go right into my body and take that sucker out. Of course, I'll be heavily sedated while all this is happening. It's when the sleeping gas runs its course through my body that I'm worried about and how much, if any pain will hit me once I wake up. Just remember, I've never had an operation before.

Sure, I've been to the hospital many times for different reasons...once, when I was 9 years old and fell off the bike I was riding in and injured the back of my head. That time, I was in the hospital for 6 days. I also got into a bad car accident back in 1988 when I crashed into the back of an abandoned truck. The doctors had to remove bits and pieces of glass from my face and arms, all while I was still wide awake. I don't care how much novacaine they put into me when all this was happening...it still hurt and I still have the scar on my left arm to show for it.

Anyway, I don't think things will be that dramatic when I get my gall bladder removed, but I sure hope I'll be okay after it's over. Thank goodness my friend Joe was willing to take a day off from work that day to take me to and from the hospital. In the end, I'll be up and running amok again. Just give me a few days to recover...

What? I saw another Hall & Oates show again!

2006-09-12T19:50:00.000-04:00

Okay, forget what I said about only doing one show on the current leg of Hall & Oates' tour. A very good friend of mine sold me her ticket and I'm extremely grateful for it. So another opportunity presents itself for me to hit the road again this past Sunday, this time to The Chevrolet Theatre in Wallingford, CT.

Coming off of 2 nights in New York seeing all 4 original members of ASIA perform brilliantly, normally, I'd be dead tired and would have soon crashed out at home, trying to recover. No way, Jose..while I enjoy rocking to the classic progressive rock of ASIA, I also want to soak in some great Philly soul from Daryl Hall & John Oates. The only catch was to make a 2+ hour drive from NJ all the way to Connecticut. So off I went on through the highways and interstates to my ultimate destination...

First thing I did when I got there was to pre-order my "Shows To Go" CD...heck, who knows what kind of show Hall & Oates will play this time around. Always great to see old friends, especially from the northeast...Michelle, Ed & Karen, Jim, Heather, Doris, Josie, etc. Some conversation between them and me and I head to my Row B seat, which was very close to the stage. The Chevrolet Theatre is a very nice place, with a sleek modern feel to it. Obviously, outside the theatre were different models of Chevrolet vehicles on display.

A local musician with just his guitar took the stage at around 7:30 p.m. and played a 5 song set. Didn't catch his name, but he sounded like Dave Matthews or one of those other artists in the mainstream today. Not bad at all.

A short intermission followed, then the lights go down for MFSB's "The Sound Of Philadelphia" to play over the speakers. The band appears and plays along to the song. Daryl Hall & John Oates are introduced, appear on stage to the excited audience in Wallingford, CT. They continue to play along to the song before we got the following set list:

Maneater
Say It Isn't So
Family Man
Someone Like You
It's A Laugh
I'll Be Around
She's Gone
One On One
Wait For Me
Sara Smile
I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
What's Going On

1st Encore

Out Of Touch
You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling

2nd Encore

You Make My Dreams
Kiss On My List
Private Eyes

3rd Encore

So Close

Terrific performance! The Chevrolet Theatre has a great sound and acoustics which made for a truly excellent show by Daryl & John. They and the band were extremely pleased with the way the show went and a rarity...3 encores! Of course, Hall & Oates took requests from the audience, with songs like "Family Man", "Someone Like You", "It's A Laugh", etc. This show seemed to focus more on the classic blue eyed soul that Daryl & John are so good at and just being there, you can feel how good their brand of soul felt.

Right after the show, I headed up the lobby to pick up my "Shows To Go" double CD for this performance and you can get this CD up at www.hallandoates.com (of course, a free plug for H&O). Left the venue after getting my CD and couldn't wait to pop it into my player for the ride home. Most definitely a wonderful evening for all the Hall & Oates fans that attended this show in Wallingford, CT.

Load of pictures from this show can be found at http://maniacmel.smugmug.com.

Two shows from this leg of the tour for me, making it 3 straight nights of concerts that I've been to. Obviously, when I got home, I was pooped and just wanted to sleep. No more shows for me until around Christmas time in support of Hall & Oates' upcoming album, Home For Christmas, due in stores October 3rd in the U.S.A. Thankfully, I've scheduled some strategic vacation time around the holiday season in anticipation of this eventual tour, especially around the northeast!

ASIA - The band is back together!

2006-09-10T23:55:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing all 4 original members of ASIA. Together on the same stage, the members included keyboardist Geoff Downes, guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Carl Palmer and bassist/vocalist John Wetton performing at New York City's Nokia Theatre, both Friday and Saturday night. It's been a long time coming for me personally, as I never got the opportunity to see them perform live back in their heyday of 1982/1983 when I grew up in Cherry Hill, NJ and they were at the Tower Theater and The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Watching these guys perform together for the first time in nearly 23 years before my eyes makes up for it all as back in the early 1980s, I was too young to drive, thus, I was limited as to where I could go...probably a foreshadowing of my many future travels in the coming years. By the time I was able to drive, the members of ASIA had gone through some personnel changes, due to personality conflicts and the dreaded "philisophical differences" in the band's musical direction, most notably between guitarist Steve Howe and bassist/vocalist John Wetton. But things change, people get older and time certainly heals all wounds. It's good to know that these gentlemen were able to work out their differences and not only become friendly to each other again, but play in the same band that many had said would never happen again. Personally, I'm elated about this as it certainly hits close to home and definitely a lesson to be learned here...I, myself went through a similar situation with a friend of many years. One day, when I moved up to the New York metropolitan area in 1998, I just stopped talking to my friend. I gave no reason; just felt I had other things to worry about in my new world at the time. Certainly, it was no excuse for me to do that to him, regardless of my reasons, whether valid or not. To this day, I still regret never having to call my friend from my college days. I had been meaning to get in touch with him over the past few years, but close friends have told me that he would hear none of it, would rather continue to hold a grudge against me and just simply hang up the phone. Hopefully, one day, I would like to sit down with him and hammer out our differences, in the same manner that Steve Howe and John Wetton were able to mend their fences, become good friends again and eventually put the band back together.

Getting back to ASIA performing in New York, certainly I had to get some souvenirs of this momentous occasion, so naturally I got a t-shirt and a few other things. Both nights, ASIA performed brilliantly and focused mainly on the debut album, plus a b-side from those sessions, a few tracks from their second album Alpha, and tracks from previous bands with Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, The Buggles and King Crimson. Even though I attended both nights, they played the same set. Friday night, I went by myself as I got there late in the afternoon to get a good spot in line because it was a General Admission show and on Saturday, I went by myself again and got there early in the afternoon to wait in line. Heck, I had to see them twice...after all, 2 is better than 1! In any event, here's what they played:

Time Again
Wildest Dreams
One Step Closer
Roundabout
Without You
Fanfare For The Common Man
Cutting It Fine w/Geoff Downes Keyboard Solo
Steve Howe Acoustic Guitar Solo - The Clap
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
Don't Cry
In The Court Of The Crimson King
Here Comes The Feeling
Video Killed The Radio Star
The Heat Goes On w/Carl Palmer Drum Solo
Only Time Will Tell
Sole Survivor

Encore

Ride Easy
Heat Of The Moment

I met so many nice people at this show and it was truly an ASIA fan's dream come true to see all original members performing on one stage. Even more mind blowing was that they played songs from their past, including Yes' "Roundabout", Emerson Lake & Palmer's "Fanfare For The Common Man", King Crimson's "In The Court Of The Crimson King" and The Buggles "Video Killed The Radio Star". John Wetton's voice was fantastic...he didn't try to sound like the other bands when performing their songs. The band made those songs sound like ASIA songs.

I took so many pictures over the course of two days...you can view them at the my photo album page directly at the following link: http://maniacmel.smugmug.com/gallery/1874043

Thank you ASIA...two memorable nights of great music from true professionals of rock music.

What a great weekend I've had so far...

Here I go again...another Hall & Oates show!

2006-09-07T19:15:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've seen my favorite musical act, Daryl Hall & John Oates. In fact, the last time I saw them was back in March of this year, just outside Philadelphia at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA. Most of this past summer, I've kicked back and relaxed a bit as I had purchased a ticket for the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ back in May. Since then, I've waited patiently for this one show on this leg of the tour.

Traffic wasn't that bad, considering the steady rain that fell on my way down the NJ Turnpike. Once I got into New Brunswick, locating the theater proved to be quite daunting. There was so much road construction going on throughout the college town that I wondered if I was actually going to find this place. With only 10 minutes to spare, I found a municipal parking lot and headed up the block to the venue. Got my digital camera and took a photo of the marquee to make sure my camera was in check.

Most of the people were already inside and I headed to the concession stand to pre-order a "Shows To Go" CD...a great concept in concerts, where the musical act records the entire show and 15 minutes after it's over, the double CD is waiting for you. Always great to see old friends again...Lisa, Jen, Ed & Karen, Lisa & Laura, Carol, Jody, Terri, etc. I spend a little time catching up with them before the lights dim and I head to my Row A seat. Don't get too excited...I may have had Row A, but in front of me were two rows of chairs for the pit section, reserved for the VIPs. Didn't matter to me as I still had a great seat from my vantage point, very close to the stage.

Geoff Byrd was the opening act, playing a 5 song acoustic set, which got the crowd excited. A true Hall & Oates fan, Geoff mentioned that it was his last show with them after touring since February of this year. Prior to his final song of the set, a young boy appears and tells Geoff that his dad enjoyed his music during the tour and wished him well. That boy turned out to be none other than Tanner Oates, the son of John Oates. Tom "T-Bone" Wolk came out to play keyboards and Jeff Catania appeared as well to play guitar for his last song.

Intermission didn't last long between sets before the lights dim again and the band fills the stage during MFSB's "The Sound Of Philadelphia". They start playing along to the song and Daryl Hall & John Oates appear to the energetic crowd in New Brunswick, NJ and we get the following set list:

Maneater
Hot Fun In The Summertime
Family Man
Las Vegas Turnaround
Say It Isn't So
I'll Be Around
She's Gone
Want To
Cab Driver
Sara Smile
I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
Me And Mrs. Jones

1st Encore

Out Of Touch
You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling

2nd Encore

You Make My Dreams
Kiss On My List (with Geoff Byrd)
Private Eyes (with Geoff Byrd)

Another fabulous show! The State Theatre rocked and truly appreciated Daryl & John's performance and the happy faces of them and the band definitely showed. As is customary for the better part of the past year and a half, Hall & Oates took requests from the audience. Right after "Maneater", Daryl Hall was looking for requests in the audience and from my close up spot, I had to go for it and take my shot for the old Sly & The Family Stone classic "Hot Fun In The Summertime", since I hadn't heard that one live in a long time. I shouted out that title and much to my surprise, Daryl stopped and looked towards my way with a smile and said, "hey, that's not a bad idea". He turns to John and the band and asks if they all still know the song. So for the first time that I can recall, Daryl Hall & John Oates played "Hot Fun In The Summertime" as the second song of the night, which traditionally, they had played it as a closer to the show. My feeling was ecstatic as I knew that if I didn't go for it and request that one, I'd probably be regretting it. Fantastic job by Hall & Oates and the band, though admittedly, I will say that it sounded a bit rusty, but still great to hear that one again! Whooo! Other notable requests included "Family Man", "Las Vegas Turnaround", "Want To", "Cab Driver" and "Me And Mrs. Jones", all of which sounded spot on.

As soon as the show ended, I waited in line at the lobby to pick up my "Shows To Go" double CD and wouldn't you know it, I can clearly be heard shouting out for "Hot Fun In The Summertime". Ha ha! Defintely pick this CD up at www.hallandoates.com (yes, a free plug, but well deserved). Also ran into keyboardist Eliot Lewis in the lobby and got his autograph. Spoke to him for a bit and told him that I really enjoyed the show. Left the venue in the steady rain and spoke to my friend Terri for a bit about various shows and other things. All in all, a fun night for all the Hall & Oates fans at this show in New Brunswick, NJ.

Took lots of great photos and you can check them out now at http://maniacmel.smugmug.com.

Usually, when I attend one show, another one immediately follows. However, I'm saving up for the next round of Hall & Oates shows when they head on out to tour during the Christmas season in support of their forthcoming album, Home For Christmas, due in stores October 3rd in the U.S.A. Man, I'm full of free shameless plugs and advertisements today...ha ha!

Melecio Ajero (1933-2006)

2006-08-27T14:40:00.000-04:00

On August 9, 2006, my father Melecio Ajero passed away. He was 72 years old. Only now I've been able to sit down and write some of my thoughts on his passing.

The day after my dad's death, my entire family converged onto the house in Cherry Hill. Upon hearing of the news, I packed a few things and shot straight down the New Jersey Turnpike in the middle of the night. No way was I going to get any sleep, so I used that opportunity to drive down with no one on the road and eventually be with my mother. My brother Mike, who already lives at the house, was e-mailing as many friends and relatives informing them of the sad news. My brother Mark and his family came to the house in the early afternoon all the way up from Maryland. My brother Mario and his family...God bless them, they had just closed on a new house in Texas and upon hearing the news, he booked a flight for him and his family to Philadelphia to come in during the evening.

Earlier that day, my family and a couple of relatives went to the funeral home to plan out a service for my dad. Seeing that the weekend was coming up, my mom wanted to plan it on a Saturday/Sunday, but it was too soon and not enough time for many of the relatives to be there to pay their last respects. Plus, there were many mass services going on for the general public anyway, so it would have been nearly impossible to schedule anything on those days. I suggested Monday the 14th, but my mom said that it was my dad's birthday and he would have turned 73 that day. I said, "Exactly. I think Dad would have wanted us to celebrate his birthday anyway, so let's make it a celebration of his life". Everyone agreed and decided to have his wake on his birthday, followed by a mass service at the church on Tuesday morning.

Sure, there were some stories I've shared with many of you during my week of bereavement that followed my dad's death. I've listened to many stories from family, his friends and colleagues, some of which were very entertaining to say the least as I had never heard the tales of how my dad met my mom, the way he got along so well with his co-workers at the architecture firm he worked for in Philadelphia for over 23 years, etc. There was a time back in 1988 when my dad dragged me out of bed on his birthday and told me to drive him to Philadelphia. First, we stopped by the local bakery where he would have this huge sheet of birthday cake, along with boxes and boxes of cookies and pastries. I thought to myself, he must be crazy to get all this stuff for his birthday. My mom even had asked him why he kept doing this on his birthday when it should have been his co-workers doing all this for him. He just shrugged it off and told my mom not to worry about it. But that was my dad...he wanted everyone to have a good time and to make sure everyone had cake and pastries and cookies at his office for his birthday. Anyway, I can tell that his co-workers always looked forward to his birthday because I remember that day in 1988 when we arrived at the building in Philadelphia, one of his co-workers was waiting there with anticipation to help bring the goodies up. Back to the present day, one of the visitors to the house was the vice-president of the company, named Mr. Patel. He came with his wife and shared some stories about my dad to my mother and my brother Mark. I had just returned from an errand when they were about to leave and they told me that the entire company in Philadelphia would celebrate my dad's birthday on that Monday by each bringing in some cake, cookies and pastries as a tribute to him.

Another story I can recall was from the mid 1970s on one particular Saturday afternoon, myself along with my brothers Mark and Mike and with the neighborhood kids...Mikey, who lived across the street and our next door neighbors, Tommy and Donna were playing outside and the weather didn't look so good, but we continued to play as much as we could. My dad rounded all of us together and crammed us into his big brown 1970 Ford XL. He took us to the arcade at the Cherry Hill Mall where we got to play air hockey, pinball, video pong, etc. After that, we took another trip, this time to a local pizzeria that still stands today, called King Of Pizza on Route 70 in Cherry Hill. Dad treated all of us kids to two large pies and even though I don't remember what was on it, we all had a great time on that crappy rainy Saturday afternoon.

The one thing I will remember in the days that followed my dad's passing is the outpouring of love and support from family and friends from all over the world. Dad was all about having fun and making sure everyone at the house felt welcome there. I hope I was able to help continue that in my dad's absence when the house was filled with family, relatives and friends from all over the place. I know he would have loved to have been there, especially on his birthday when they all sang "Happy Birthday" to him that night, followed by the cutting of his cake by my mother and myself. His life was definitely a celebration of sorts and the party atmosphere in the house was alive and well.

I remember on the 10th day following my father's death, the house did not have any visitors for the first time. That's when it really hit me and my mother. I had to get out of the house and continue on with life. My friend Beth invited me to a Steely Dan/Michael McDonald show at the Tweeter Center in Camden, NJ. Though I enjoyed the show very much, Dad was heavily on my mind, but I know he would have wanted me to have a good time out there.

I've received lots of cards and e-mails from many of you asking what you could do to help out. The best thing you could do in memory of my father is to make a donation in his name to the American Heart Association. They have a website at www.americanheart.org.

My brother Mario wrote a brief, but wonderful tribute to our dad on his blog at http://marioajero.blogspot.com

My nephew Ellis (my cousin Junel's son) took some great photos at his site. You can view them at http://ellisr.smugmug.com.

To those of you that have called, e-mailed or sent me a card, thank you from the bottom of my heart. The whole experience of losing a loved one has been a real eye opener for me personally and one that I am still trying to understand. But I know that in due time, things will get easier to handle.