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ResNet 2009: The Symposium

Published on July 2, 2009 in ResNet. 0 Comments

Now that my ranting about the travel is over, I figured I’d share my thoughts on this year’s symposium. Overall, it was a great conference. I went to some awesome presentations and got even more out of talking to people one on one (or sometimes in small groups).

I attended 2 PDS (professional development) sessions. The first one was on customer service. It wasn’t exactly as I thought it would be, but I did get a lot from it. I’ll be going back to that when I put together my student training at the end of the summer. The second session was on being the boss. It ended up with so many tangents that I couldn’t follow. I wish it had continued the original path, even though it was helpful for many people to get their own questions answered. I did get a bit from it, but I’ll be reading through the booklet we were given to get a bit more out of it.

I missed the keynote on the first day of the actual symposium. I had gone out the night before and forgotten to take my phone off vibrate after the PDS sessions. I woke up after it had started, but heard that it was pretty boring from others. Out of the 5 ResNets that I attended, I really only enjoyed 1 keynote. That was last year (it’s about halfway through that post). I attended 2 sessions before I had to present my own. The first session was on managing and evaluating students. It was interesting to see how the school did it, but they have almost 200 student employees and don’t even know them all by name (I have a hard time, but I can usually guess who the student is with mine). They use a neat piece of software along with several student supervisors to take care of the process. It’s a great system, but it seems more designed for larger institutions. I was taken aback when they said they were going to package the software and sell it. Most colleges package it and release it as open source. The second session was on strategic planning of a computer lab. I had hoped it would go more into the actual planning process rather than be about the lab, but I did get a bit out of it.

My first presentation was a panel discussion on Helpdesk Ticket Tracking systems, though it didn’t end up in a lot of discussion. I only had about 10 minutes to do my portion of the presentation because the first 2 guys took too long. I think if we do something like it again, we’ll organize more of it beforehand rather than have each of us make up a presentation and just do them one at a time. It seemed well received and I got some comments from people afterward that it was helpful.

The second day was a half day of presentations followed by our own activities. I had a presentation first thing in the morning. My presentation was on our department’s outreach efforts to get input from the college community (mainly faculty, staff, and students). I had originally asked for a 90 minute session, but the scheduling put both of my presentations back to back. I was offered a 60 minute session and took it, not really wanting to present for an hour and a half and unsure that I had enough content to fill that whole time. In fact, I was worried I wouldn’t fill an hour session. I guess I just needed to have a little faith in myself. My session went 5-10 minutes beyond the slated time, and most of the people didn’t seem to mind. There was a lot of great discussion, and I received a lot great feedback both in person and through the evaluations (if you were at my session and want more information on any of it, please feel free to email me, I ran out of time to get through all of my information).

As part of my role on the Program Committee, I moderated the next session on starting a walk-in help center. Unfortunately, it’s probably not something we’ll be able to do, but some of their procedures were interesting. I do want to start a walk-in center, but we don’t really have the space for one (though we are working on it). Money may also become an issue for us in the creation of this space. We’ll see how things pan out. The session had a lot of great discussion about the various procedures they use.

The final day had a single morning presentation session. I attended an awesome session on Microsoft Live@Edu by the guys at Western Carolina University. As a school that just implemented Live@Edu, it was perfectly timed. I learned about all sorts of great features available in the product.

The session was followed by a town meeting for the organization. It included many great suggestions for keeping the organization alive and bringing in some money. As someone who has been a part of ResNet since I was a student at UConn (with a couple years absence), I am committed to the organization (so long as I stay in the same line of work). They are considering a membership fee of $25, which I would gladly pay myself to become a member and support the group. What’s up in the air is what the fee will include.

This was the last major event of the symposium, aside from closing dinners and raffles and the like. All in all, it was a great event. I think I made more connections at this one than any of the others in the past (getting involved paid off it seems). I am really enjoying presenting at this conference. It’s more like a large group of friends than just a bunch of people from the same industry (of course, I do have a bunch of actual friends in the organization, made some new ones this year, too). If you’re involved with student computing of any sort on a college campus, this conference is for you. It doesn’t matter if you’re a network admin, a helpdesk guy, a technician, or even just a student manager with few technical skills. This conference has something for you. It’s not just residential networking anymore.

ResNet Symposium

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ResNet 2009: The Travel

Published on July 2, 2009 in Travel. 0 Comments

I’m gonna break up my ResNet posts into a couple different ones about various aspects of the symposium. The first will be the travel as it’s the most recent part of the experience for me.

I traveled from Rhode Island’s TF Green Airport in Warwick to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. We were given the option to fly to the St. Cloud Airport, but it wasn’t really worth the extra cost as I would have had a long layover at MSP. So I opted to take the professional shuttle service that runs from MSP to St. Cloud, Executive Express. It’s an hour and a half long drive, but I figured since it was a professional service, it’d be comfortable and I’d get to see some of Minnesota.

My flight to MSP (direct, on Northwest Airlines) was a pretty good flight. My only complaints were that NWA puts their seats really close together and the seats themselves, though the plane was newer, were extremely uncomfortable. My flight left early and arrived really early. I was lucky. I had hoped this would happen so that I could make the shuttle at 8:00pm instead of 10:00pm. Unfortunately, the luggage took forever to come out and I missed the earlier shuttle by only 3 minutes. I had some time to kill in the airport. I found my way to the shuttle, leaving the secure area, and checked in. I needed food and found the only restaurant nearby that served real meals. It was in the process of closing up, but I managed to get an order in. I had a beer and a sandwich and then headed back to wait. The annoying part of this shuttle area was that it had no wifi. I had a computer, and I was more than willing to pay to get online. It wasn’t gonna happen.

I eventually met a couple locals who were also going to St. Cloud and we were on our way. It was a newer van with very comfortable seats. I was dozing off for most of the drive (after all, 10:00pm CDT is 11:00pm EDT and I wasn’t getting to St. Cloud until almost midnight Central Time). I made it and found my way to my room.

The return trip back to RI was the “fun” one. I had schedule the shuttle to pick me up at 8:15 at the university. We waited where the earlier shuttle was picking us up. Of course, it showed up elsewhere. The driver found us and we boarded. We were then informed that we’d be dropped off at a hotel in town and another van would be bringing us to the airport. The driver seemed to be in his 80’s and drove to the hotel with his turn signal on and wipers on (it wasn’t raining). We arrived at the hotel and he transferred our luggage to a trailer behind another van (it’s important to mention these are older 15 passenger vans). He tells us to wait in the hotel, though the driver is already outside. We just hung around outside. The new driver seemed even older. He had the same issue with the turn signal only we were on the highway. There were a few moments I thought we were gonna die, but luckily, he didn’t kill us.

We arrived at the airport safely and he tells us that airlines other than Delta/NWA get off at the first stop. A bunch of us sat in the shuttle expecting to be dropped off elsewhere in the airport. Instead, the driver moves about 4 car lengths and pulls over. We’re all thinking, “thanks, but we could’ve walked the 30 feet rather than staying on this shuttle”.

The worst part about the Executive Express vans are the stickers on the windows that say “driver tips appreciated”. While I appreciate the service, it wasn’t cheap (and I had a discount) and it wasn’t comfortable (ok, the ride to the campus was, but a full 15 passenger van with people sitting with bags is not comfortable for 1.5 hours).

I enjoyed the wifi in the airport ($7.95 for 24 hours) and had some lunch while waiting for my flight (I had a couple hours to kill). I had upgraded my seat to an exit row (yes, NWA charges $20 to do them a favor and sit in the exit row) so I could have extra leg room. Unfortunately, I ended up next to a fat man who didn’t give a crap that he was invading my personal space. I generally do everything I can so my arms aren’t crossing over into the seat next to me, and I have pretty broad shoulders. This guy just didn’t care. He was gonna sit and relax and make everyone around him uncomfortable. I managed to sleep on and off for much of the flight (after all, I was up at 5:30 to someone saying “goodbye” to me who thought I was leaving at 6 and then again at 6:30 when my alarm went off, all this after a night of drinking until 1:30 and then packing until almost 3:00).

So I made it back. I decided that next time I’m going on a trip somewhere 1.5 hours from the airport, I’m renting a car, even if I have to pay for it myself. I also decided I’m gonna try to avoid NWA from now on (they’re added to my list that also includes US Airways). I do still like the Providence airport. It’s so easy.

Oh, and one last cool thing about my trip. NWA gave me the option of a “mobile” boarding pass. They sent a picture message to my phone that I scanned at security and at the gate. I thought that was pretty cool. It’s one green way to make travel a little easier (less paper is always good, especially if I don’t have to carry it). That and the fried cheese curds were the best part of my travel experience.

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World’s Best Pasta y Fagioli

Published on June 16, 2009 in Food. 3 Comments

While my claim might be a little dreamy, I have never had a Pasta y Fagioli that I have liked better, even at the best of Italian restaurants. The only thing I can come up with is that the restaurants are making a peasant’s dish too classy. The dish is meant to be simple and easy to make with few ingredients. After all, in English, it just means “Pasta and Beans”.

The recipe that follows has been handed down to me from my mother. It’s the same way my paternal grandparents made it (oddly enough, my father doesn’t know the recipe). This is the same recipe that has been my favorite meal since I was pretty young. Being that this is one of those handed down recipes, there’s a lot of improvisation (the garlic, oregano, and basil were my additions).

Ingredients:

1 pound spaghetti (I use Barilla)
4 8 oz cans of Hunts Tomato Sauce (the plain one)
1 can of cannellini (white kidney) beans (brands very. I prefer Sclafani. Progresso is no good)
1 medium size yellow onion
6 cloves of Garlic (if you don’t like garlic, use less, if you do, use more)
Olive oil (I use extra virgin, but it’s just what I have in the cabinet)
Oregano (dried flakes)
Basil (dried flakes)

Chop the garlic and onion. Add some olive oil to the bottom of a pot. I usually use a 3 qt pot, but it gets filled pretty close to the rim. Cook the garlic, but don’t burn it. Add some more olive oil and then add the onion and sauté until the onion is translucent. I generally end up with a lot of olive oil in the pot to the point where it’s nearly covering all the onion (I like olive oil). I let it get hot and add the tomato sauce and cannellini beans (including the “bean juice”). After each can of tomato sauce is added, I carefully fill the empty can with water, making sure to mix the excess sauce in, and add that to the pot. I usually rinse the bean can just enough to get some water in it and mixed with the excess “bean juice” and add that to the pot as well. I then add the oregano and basil to taste. You can also probably add salt and/or pepper if you want, but I generally don’t. Let the whole thing come to a brief boil, stirring pretty regularly, and then let it simmer covered.

While the sauce is getting hot, I get the water going for the spaghetti. While I’m waiting for it to come to a boil, I break the spaghetti up into small pieces (about 1-2 inches in length). It’s a lot of work, but it makes eating this a lot easier. By the time I’m done, the water is ready. Cook the spaghetti according to the package. I generally stir the spaghetti with the same utensil used for the sauce. In fact, I’ll add a small amount of the sauce to the spaghetti water (you’ll understand soon enough). When the spaghetti is done, pour about 1-2 quarts of the water used to cook it into something to save it (again, you’ll understand by the end of this), then strain as usual. Add the spaghetti back to the pot and then dump in the sauce and stir it up. The consistency should be almost stew-like. Cover the pot and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. This allows the spaghetti to soak up the flavors from the sauce.

Serve it in soup bowls or pasta bowls. I usually add a good amount of grated parmesan or romano (or a mix of the 2) cheese to it and mix it in. It’s best eaten with a good crusty Italian bread for dipping.

This recipe makes a lot. I don’t know the exact number of servings, but I always end up with a lot leftover. This is where that water you saved comes in. I add the leftovers to a container for the fridge. But usually by the time I do it, it has thicken up quite a bit. I add some of that water (which already has a lot of the flavors mixed in) to loosen it up a bit. If you add too much of the water, it will be bland. If you don’t add enough, it will be really thick.

I’m still perfecting this each time I make it. I have yet to have a brand of beans besides Sclafani that meets my approval. Sclafani may not be available in all parts of the country (I can get it in RI or CT). You can try making it with 2 15 oz cans of the tomato sauce (always use the plain Hunts). I’ve made it really bland. I’ve made it overpowering. It all comes down to the spices. Now, the one thing I can’t remember (which is why I said you can add it if you want) is if my mother used salt and/or pepper in the sauce. That might be why it sometimes comes out bland. Though, on that same note, I’ve had it be absolutely fantastic without adding that stuff. I do salt the pasta water (adding a good amount of salt after it’s boiling, but before adding the pasta).

If you try this or make some changes, let me know what you think in the comments. I really don’t care what anyone says. This will always be the world’s best Pasta y Fagioli to me. Enjoy!

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A Few Months with FiOS

Published on June 9, 2009 in Internet and Technology. 0 Comments

As I posted a while back, I ended up switching from Cox High Speed Internet to Verizon FiOS. There were many reason for that switch, but here’s my thoughts on FiOS so far.

First, I’ll start with my bandwidth. I have more bandwidth available to me than I would have with Cox. It’s a tough judgement here because it’s noticeably faster, but part of that is because it should be. I have 20 mbps downstream and 5 mbps upstream. It’s quite convenient, but difficult to compare to my Cox connection because it wasn’t supposed to be as fast. However, I will say that my connection has been more reliable with FiOS than it ever was with Cox. With Cox, I had been through 3 cable modems (granted I’ve only had FiOS for a few months now) and always had a problem with dropped connections. I suppose it could’ve been my router (which I plan on trying to use with FiOS as I’ve heard there’s a way). Now their router, while it works well and does what I need to (and even seems to give off a stronger wireless signal than my Linksys that had 2 antennae) has a really crappy interface (warnings everytime you go into an “advanced” setting, even after you’ve confirmed a change in an advanced setting). The advanced settings shouldn’t be called advanced. People should be able to set their wireless encryption to WPA or WPA2 without having to go into an advanced area (that scares them away). I can’t change the DNS server (I used OpenDNS on my old router) and if you mistype an address, you go to Verizon’s error page/search engine (a little shady if you ask me, I’d rather get a “page cannot be displayed” message). However, I need to use their router because it grabs the on demand and guide for the set top box.

The TV service is also good. I like having HD service, though I’ve noticed that I can only get 1080i (my TV does 1080p). I don’t know if I have something configured wrong, if I have a crappy HDMI cable (came from Verizon and Gizmodo says it doesn’t matter), or if HD cable service only goes as high as 1080i. It really shouldn’t matter because based on the size of my TV and the distance it is from where we sit, I shouldn’t be able to tell the difference between 1080p and 720p. However, I can’t really compare it to my Cox service as I didn’t have HD with them. From time to time, I do notice some digital pixelation, but that can happen with any digital cable service.

The DVR, however, sucks ass. It had to be said. There are 2 reasons I’m using their DVR. The first is because I can’t afford a Tivo HD. The second is because even if I could afford a Tivo HD, I wouldn’t have the Verizon guide and I wouldn’t be able to use any of the on demand features (I may even lose out on the music channels, but I’m not sure on that). That being said, Tivo’s interface blows away the Verizon DVR. I’d also get a whole lot more storage from a Tivo and better multimedia capabilities without having to pay an extra fee (as with what I’d have to do do get those from my Verizon DVR).

So it’s not all roses over here in FiOS land, but it’s better than my experience with Cox. Cox’s support system was a whole lot better. They have phone numbers listed for easy access on their webpage. They had realistic hours (Verizon stops answering their phone at 6 pm). But the extra bandwidth and reliable service make FiOS better for me.

Update: Apparently, after doing a little research, the set top box is only capable of 1080i.

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A RunawayJim Retrospective Part 7: The Conclusion

Published on June 9, 2009 in Phish and Music. 0 Comments

The following article is the final part in a multi-part series on my life as a Phishhead. I would suggest starting at the beginning: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

As I wrap up this series on my life as a Phishhead, I have churned up many old memories of Phish in my life - from buying my first album to going to my first show, from awaiting the newest issues of the Schvice to standing in line at the Hartford Civic Center, from the sadness of their departure to the excitement of their return.

When I first heard of them, I thought they were some fad band that people in my high school liked. I started listening to them and got more and more into them. I soon realized they weren’t a fad. They didn’t go away. If anything, they got bigger and bigger. I am still surprised that there are so many people who had never heard of them. Even at the height of their popularity in the late ’90s, there were a lot of people who had no idea who Phish was. I have done my best to spread the word and turn people on (or off, in some cases) to the band.

I remember the day they announced their breakup. Of all the people to send me condolences, my father was a big surprise. I had no idea he even knew who they are, let alone that he knew they were breaking up. That just goes to show how big they had become and how important they are in the world of music.

If there is anything to learn about Phish it’s that they are much bigger than just the four guys that make up the band. Phish is a community, a community that could not be any stronger than it is right now. A community I hope will never go in the direction it had gone in the post-hiatus period. There was so much hate, so much contempt. They were some dark times for both the band and the community.

As the tour continues tonight in Asheville, I can only get more excited to see what they do next. My next show is over 2 months away. And while this may be the final chapter of this little series on my blog, this is certainly not the final chapter of Phish. The road continues onward and upward.

One thing is certain, the world is a much better place with Phish and I am grateful to have been a part of this whole thing.

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A RunawayJim Retrospective Part 6: The Triumphant Return, Phish 3.0

Published on June 8, 2009 in Phish and Music. 0 Comments

The following article is part 6 of a multi-part series on my life as a Phishhead. I would recommend starting at the beginning: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Early on in 2008, rumblings of a Phish reunion started to float around. As the year went on, the rumors started to fly about where and when it would be. Would it be Halloween in Vegas? What about New Year’s Eve at Madison Square Garden? No matter what the rumor said, it was beginning to feel like Phish would be back sooner rather than later. Trey had his famous “left nuts” interview, during which he said he would give his left nut to be back with Mike, Page, and Fish playing the same songs over and over. It was now just a matter of timing. Mike was off on his solo tour. Trey had started working with the classic TAB. Did they have time to bring Phish back?

Then came the announcement. It was a normal October day when a visit to Phish.com brought you to a video of a guy drawing the Hampton Coliseum with the dates of the March 2009 reunion. The beloved band from Vermont was back. The first words out of Susan’s mouth… “My life is over”. Rumors started to fly again (this is Phish after all, what would we do without rumors?). What would they play? Will they be as poorly rehearsed as their last reunion? What will their first song be? What kinds of guests will be there?

I suspected they would play something as “Phish” as they could and they would not invite any guests to the stage. I was correct. They opened the first of the three Hampton shows with the classic composition “Fluffhead” telling everyone that they were back. They were serious. And, most importantly, they were rehearsed. They blasted through two long sets that first night playing song after song with little jamming. Instead, they were proving to themselves that they could play together and play the songs properly. This wasn’t a return from hiatus. They were back and they were going to do it right. There was little jamming or improvisation during those three nights in Hampton. Each of the shows had two very long sets with a lot of songs packed in. They played them out a bit more as they moved towards the third night, but even that night had little jamming compared to years gone by.

Before the Hampton shows even started, rumors began to surface about a summer tour. Sure enough, they announced the tour in January by way of a new video on Phish.com. It was a short tour of shows mostly in the Northeast and east of the Mississippi River. The west coast fans were being left out. Then more rumors started to fly, including a possible tour opener at Fenway Park in Boston. A second leg of the tour was announced started with 4 nights at Red Rocks and 2 nights at the Gorge. It also included a night at Shoreline Amphitheater in California. The rest of the tour brought them back east. The video for this late summer tour featured a Google Earth image that zoomed in on a field in Texas. Rumors started to fly about an end of summer festival in Texas. While a Phish festival would have been fun, August in Texas is disgustingly hot. While I’m sure they don’t have anything against Texas, I doubt they would ever choose the state as a location for a summer festival. Soon thereafter a new video went up featuring Fenway Park. They were opening their summer tour in Boston. It made sense, after all. The Red Sox were away that day and the Dave Matthews Band was playing the previous two nights (Phish and DMB are both managed by Red Light Management). The logistics were easy as the stage and field seating would already be in place.

I managed to score tickets to the three New England shows - Fenway on May 31, Great Woods on June 6, and Hartford on August 14. Susan wasn’t overly pleased about the Great Woods show (the first of the three to be announced) as it was the day before our first wedding anniversary, but she understood and said she’d go with me (and as seen in my previous post, she enjoyed herself). She gave me a hard time about the other two as well, but I told her I could have asked to go to more. She’ll get something in return eventually, and, hey, she’s going to the Hartford show now, too.

The first several shows of the summer tour have come and gone. The band is leaving the northeast as I write this. The reunion shows (Hampton plus the initial six shows from the summer) have proven to be a build-up. The band has built upon each show culminating in Camden with a raging show from start to finish. Fenway proved to be a builder, building up from the start to the finish. It was really more the spectacle of the venue and event than anything else. The Jones Beach shows featured the band experimenting with some old songs (see “Harry Hood” from June 2) and introducing some more new ones. Great Woods proved to be a show where they got down the precision of each song, including the return of “Fluffhead” played to early 90’s standards and the first post-breakup “Julius” along with a fun “Contact” and “Golgi Apparatus”. Each song played with great precision. At Camden, they opened the floodgates and proved they were back.

Phish has returned in full force. The rest of the summer tour should be amazing to see. The boys are back in full glory. The scene seems to be back in pre-hiatus form… the people are here for the music rather than the scene. They have returned, and it has indeed been triumphant. August 14 cannot come soon enough for me.

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Phish Great Woods Review 6/6/09

Published on June 7, 2009 in Phish and Music. 7 Comments

Yesterday was a perfect day for late spring in New England. The sun was shining, there was little humidity, and the temps were in the mid-70s. Who could ask for anything more? Well, we could, of course. The Phish tribe came down upon the Great Woods amphitheatre (aka the Comcast Center) in Mansfield, MA in full force last night. Susan and I arrived at the lot around 3:45 yesterday afternoon and it was already nearly filled to the brim. Being Susan’s first Phish show, I had to bring her in early to tailgate and learn about the scene. I attached the Phish Twitter Twibe flag to the top of my car and it was time to sit back and enjoy ourselves. After hooking up a fellow Rhode Islander and Twitter follower with the tickets that were originally meant for my cousins who bailed on me, things were smooth sailing. We hung out with some beers and our lot neighbors. People from the Phish Twibe showed up and hung out for a bit (great to see @UNOlker, @coffeewithian, @PBRandPBJ, @jmvalentine, and @KiminRI. Susan and I cooked some juicy burgers. Before we knew it, it was time to head into the show.

We found our way to our seats, which were in a great spot at the end of the row on the inside edge of Section 8 (the far left section in the back of the pavilion when looking at the stage). What we didn’t take into account was the fact that the steps going up took a left at our seats. This resulted in us having to guide drunk, stoned, tripping, and otherwise confused people throughout the night. It provided some amusement as I watched them walk into the seats completely confused, but it was mainly an annoyance as it distracted us from the music.

The band took the stage just after 7:30. The crowd went completely nuts. The energy that was present at this show was just unreal from start to finish. They opened with one of their new songs, “Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan”. I had listened to it from the Jones Beach show, but it was definitely played better last night. And this precise playing continued to be the theme for the night. They then went into the lighter “Nothing” off of Undermind. While I was disappointed at first, as the song just doesn’t impress me either on the album or the one time I heard them play it in Brooklyn at the start of their “final” tour in 2004, I took it in with an open mind. One of the people from Twitter, @YEMblog, made a comment “nice to them play (not just sing) a song off of Undermind.” I could not agree more. They played the song quite well. While the energy was high from the beginning, it picked up quite a bit at the first notes of “Back on the Train”. They played it quite well, though didn’t really jam it out at all. This show was beginning to feel a bit like Fenway with the first set being about the songs. When they busted out “Golgi Apparatus” the roof came down on the place. People went absolutely nuts as it hadn’t been played since before the breakup. They then busted out “Sparkle” and played it with such speed and precision, I thought everyone was going to collapse afterwards, but they still had plenty of energy for “Gotta Jibboo”, the first song to really have any kind of a jam associated with it, though they remained within the songs structure for the most part. They gave our legs a little rest, but our voices still got nothing. The opening notes for “Lawn Boy” brought about some of the loudest cheers of the night. Page was crooning and Mike was playing right along with him. It felt almost as if we had traveled back in time about 50 years and were listening to the Rat Pack. They kept it mellow with the Trey solo tune “Let Me Lie”, which caused a good portion of the crowd to head out for a bathroom break. Unfortunately for those who left, they played this song quite well. I had seen him play it at the Newport Folk Festival and at a Classic TAB show shortly after. Neither of those performances came anywhere near this one. Though there was little reason to leave, they pulled everyone back in with a powerful “Taste”, one of the most powerful I have heard. Just when I thought they were going to end the set here, they started playing the crowd favorite “Makisupa Policeman” with its groovin’ reggae beat. This was followed by a slowly building “Prince Caspian” to close the set. This Caspian was stretched out and became quite powerful towards the end. The first set had come to an end.

About 25 minutes later, the band comes back on stage and quickly starts up one of the favorites from the Round Room album, “Seven Below”. The band played this song out with some of the best jamming of the night, playing it with such precision. It was a sign for things to come. The second set was going to be special. And, by the end of the song and the first notes of the next song, the second set had become special. It was “Fluffhead”, not heard since they opened up their first reunion show at Hampton in March. The only difference was this time it was played with complete perfection. By this time, the crowd was bouncing off the walls. When “Fluffhead” ended, they quickly started “Scent of a Mule”. The crowd was dancing hard by this point. The jam and the Russian dance segment were played perfectly and Mike had taken his song as his own and kept the other guys at bay when he brought the song back from the jam with his extra long “wellllllllllllll”. In fact, Trey could be seen laughing on stage not knowing when Mike would continue, but he eventually did. They lightened it up a bit with “Heavy Things”, but didn’t make it too light. The last time I saw them play this song, Trey messed up the lyrics. This song was played with great precision, just like the slower songs from the first set. In fact, they even took it to a different level than I had ever heard before, extending the short jam section out a bit. They quickly brought back the force of the set with “Harry Hood”. I was hoping they’d do some exploratory jamming as they had at Jones Beach on Tuesday. Instead, they played the song as precisely as it could possibly be played and gave it a powerful jam that, for the most part, stayed in the confines of the song’s structure. They then played a completely rockin’ “Possum”. They gave it a different kind of a jam that was a little less country feeling than usual. Finally, they played “Bug”. I was extremely disappointed at first. This is the one song that can completely kill the groove of a great set. However, they blew us all away with the jam at the end. I had never heard “Bug” played out before. It was usually given it’s few minutes of glory allowing us a bathroom break. This one was special and quite fitting for the set closer.

After a short break, the band was back for the encore. The first notes of “Contact” made for a special end to a special night. The band had a ton of fun with this song. Towards the end of the song, a kid jumped on stage and started dancing. Trey made some comments to him and one of the security guys grabbed him and pulled him off stage. Trey then said “Let’s hear it for this guy ’cause he’s getting thrown out and won’t hear this next song”. Then they bust out with “Julius”, which made for a great ending to a great night.

Overall, the show was fantastic. I was worried, after playing 3 awesome shows at Jones Beach, that last night’s show was going to be a bit of a downer. However, the playing was much better than the Jones Beach shows, even if they weren’t quite as exploratory in their jams. The highlights for me, in addition to the two songs of the encore, were the following:

Set One

Awesome “Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan”
The bust out “Sparkle”
The crooning “Lawn Boy”
The powerful “Taste” and “Prince Caspian”

Set Two

The powerful, well-played “Seven Below”
The perfect precision of “Fluffhead”
The perfect “Harry Hood” (I have never seen them play it without Trey screwing up somewhere)
The rockin’ “Possum” jam
The extended (believe it or not) “Bug”

We left the show and headed back to our car. We took a breather and had some water and a snack. When we looked at the traffic getting out, it was stopped and our friendly neighbors offered us some food. So we hung out with some people for a while before deciding we should try to make our way home. We got in the line of car and ended up turning the car off again. Apparently, there was an accident on one of the single lane roads out of the lots. The Great Woods lots are not known for their easy in and out. In fact, there are 2 entrances and they funnel everyone out the same exit. Last night, I experienced some of the biggest assholes (and I don’t like to use foul language on my blog) I had ever seen. The number of cars that tried to prevent people from merging into the exit lanes was unreal. I pissed someone off because I managed to step on my gas faster than she could when I merged in. She started screaming and giving me the finger. It’s not like being one car behind was going to make her get out any slower, but that’s Massachusetts driving for you. I, of course, allowed people to pull in in front of me, especially knowing that I had a royal bitch driving the car behind me.

I was also disappointed by some of the people at the show. The number of “puppy pullers” (people who bring their dogs on tour) in the lot was unreal. I had never seen so many dogs at a show. This is animal cruelty, plain and simple. Do not bring your dog on tour. In fact, your dog is better off in a kennel. During the setbreak, a guy was behind me looking around and eventually says “I dropped a joint, I can’t find it”. A little kid (I thought it was a girl, but it was a boy) comes up next to me and I start talking to him. Eventually, I look around for his parents. The joint dropper sees the look on my face and claims the kid as his. First of all, I don’t know if a crowded Phish show is the best place to bring such a young child (the kid was no more than 4 or 5). Second of all, don’t be sitting there rolling joints while your kid is running around. I wouldn’t have had a problem if he had the kid in view at all times. The lawn would have been a better location for a child as people aren’t crammed into such a tight space. Finally, on our way out, when we were stuck in traffic, the driver of the car in front of us stumbled out, obviously seriously intoxicated, to get another beer out of the cooler. During the time waiting, no fewer than 3 times did his passenger leave to find beer for both of them.

This show was Susan’s first. She is, by no means, a big fan of the band. In fact, she doesn’t really like listening to them at all. However, this show is not going to be her last. I have 2 tickets to the Hartford show in August. She asked if she could come with me or if I would rather someone really excited about the band take the second ticket. She really enjoyed the show, but wants to experience it in a less distracting seat. Our seats in Hartford should be in the middle of the section and not on an aisle with people walking into us. She said the show was like nothing she’s ever seen. She has never been to a concert where the people were all so into the music and all over the place (she was quite shocked that the staff didn’t force people out of the aisles). She was also amazed at the energy of the crowd.

I have said many times that there is nothing like a Phish show. It’s really the truth. A Phish show is a very unique experience. The music, the crowd, the energy, and even the light show all make for an experience you will not find at any other concert. This show was no different, and the fact that Susan enjoyed herself made for a great first anniversary.

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A RunawayJim Retrospective Part 5: Post-Breakup

Published on June 6, 2009 in Phish, Trey and Music. 0 Comments

The following article is part 5 of a multi-part series on my life as a Phishhead. I would recommend starting at the beginning: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Following Coventry, I continued listening to Phish for a while, but eventually decided to branch out a bit. My concert attendance had decreased in general. I started listening to moe. a bit more and some newer music, including Ryan Adams. I kept going back to Phish every now and then, but it was few and far between. As I had a lot more time on my hands and found myself single and living in a city where I didn’t know a whole lot of people other than those I worked with or who worked for me, I started meeting some people on Craigslist. Eventually, I met the woman who would eventually become my wife. She, unfortunately, was not a fan of Phish, but that wasn’t a problem.

We had gone to a moe. show together in Worcester. We had a good time, but the sound sucked. And honestly, after listening to many recordings of moe. shows, they need a better sound guy. They sound muffled in all the recordings, and they sounded muffled at the show itself. It didn’t help that we were near a bunch of people who talked throughout the entire show, but the sound was still horrible. The Palladium is not a very large venue. It’s about the size of the current Lupo’s in Providence. I have seen bands at Lupo’s and the sound was not a problem. The was the first and only time I have seen moe. Don’t get me wrong, I love their music. I just haven’t gone to see them again (though if they come to Providence, as they should, I’ll be there).

Trey started up another band, 70 Volt Parade, with some of the members of the old 10 piece TAB. This band was more of a rock band. Susan and I went to see them in Boston one summer with Matisyahu opening for them. I really enjoyed Matisyahu, but Trey just wasn’t that good. In fact, his 10 piece band was much better. Sure, the show had its high points, but overall, it wasn’t anything special. I had gone to the show very hopeful, but left wanting more. He released his album Shine, which was full of catchy pop songs, but wasn’t musically interesting.

Phil Lesh and Friends came through Providence to play two nights at Lupo’s. I went to one of them and finally got the music that I needed. The band was solid. The show was fun and musically awesome. While they gave it a folksy/country sound, it was just what I needed. Phil Lesh and Friends was like the anti-Trey. Phil had put all his drug and alcohol problems behind him and concentrated on his family, his friends, and his music. They were just plain awesome and very tight.

I had seen Trey on two other occasions. The first was opening for Tom Petty on his 30th anniversary tour. He was with 70 Volt Parade. Again, he was good, but his set was nothing special. I love Tom Petty as well, and had seen him on another occasion (which may have been during the hiatus with Bob Dylan opening). This Petty show wasn’t as fun. It seemed to be more about the show than his music. The worst part of the show was when he brought out Stevie Nicks, whom I despise. I enjoy Fleetwood Mac, but I can’t stand her. At the previous show, Petty made it a lot of fun. This one lacked the fun. The one high point was when they “went back to their roots” and played some British blues rock. That part of the show was great.

The other time I saw Trey was opening for Phil Lesh and Friends. The only difference was that this time there were two openers. First was the Benevento Russo Duo followed by the addition of Trey and Mike. This show was interesting. Trey was pushed by the solid playing of the others, but you could tell something was still “off” about him. Phil and Friends were awesome as usual, though Susan wasn’t overly impressed (she just doesn’t like jamming).

I had also started listening to The Breakfast a bit more. I grew up with guitarist Tim Palmieri. I had a lot of fun at the shows I attended. I haven’t seen them in a few years, but they’re definitely worth checking out. I’m hoping now that the Century Lounge has re-opened in Providence they’ll come back here instead of just going to South County.

Time went on and Trey had released some more solo albums. Page and Mike both released solo albums as well, which were extremely solid and well received. In fact, those two albums are far better than anything Trey did without Phish. Everything came to a head when Trey was arrested in New York for drug possession. More hatred and rumors started flying around the message boards. I decided to just step away from it all and ignore it. I didn’t really care. It was Trey’s personal issues to deal with on his own.

Sometime after his arrest he started doing some interviews saying how he wanted nothing more than to play the old Phish tunes again. He was booked for a solo acoustic gig at the Newport Folk Festival last summer. I was lucky enough to go. Obviously, he was a highlight for me. He played a bunch of Phish tunes and some of his solo work to a crowd that stayed through the rain to watch him. People were chanting to “Wilson” and singing the lines to “Bathtub Gin”. Everyone had a great time and Trey seemed super excited to be back. He looked healthy and happy. Other worthwhile performances were the Cowboy Junkies, Willy Mason, the Black Crowes, Jakob Dylan, and the American Babies. Trey also brought back his original solo band, dubbed Classic TAB, and went on a small tour. I was lucky enough to catch him in Providence. The band was on fire from start to finish. It was very obvious that Trey was back and clean. They ripped through some solo Trey songs, some new songs, and a bunch of Phish tunes. For the encore, they were joined on stage by Scott Murawski of Max Creek, Bill Kreutzman of the Dead, and Oteil Burbridge of the Aquarian Rescue Unit and more recently the Allman Bros. They all tore it up for a packed crowd. Trey was definitely back and on top of his game once again. He was clean and sober and, more importantly, healthy and happy.

Rumblings of Phish’s return were getting louder and louder over the next couple months when they announced by video that they were reuniting for three shows at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia. Everyone was ecstatic, though there were still many naysayers, particularly those who still held a grudge from Coventry.

The next post in this series will cover the reunion at Hampton and the summer tour. I have not decided if I should wait until the first leg of the tour has ended towards the end of the month or if I will write it after Great Woods.

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Sweetwater Brewery Pics

Published on June 5, 2009 in Beer. 0 Comments

I said I’d post some pics of the Sweetwater Brewery from our Atlanta trip. Well, they are on Flickr.

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A RunawayJim Retrospective Part 4: Coventry

Published on June 5, 2009 in Phish and Music. 0 Comments

The following article is part 4 of a multi-part series on my life as a Phishhead. I would recommend starting at the beginning: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Once Phish had announced that Coventry would be their final show, I immediately bought tickets. I had never been to any of their festivals and I certainly wasn’t going to let them quit without me getting to at least one of them.

So I had my tickets. One of my friends who had never seen Phish was going along with me. The band had planned, as a way to prevent the big traffic jams that occurred at the Limestone festivals, to open the campgrounds early. They were set to open at noon on Thursday before the festival rather than Friday. I had the day off, but my friend had to work. I spent the day packing my stuff and then headed down to Connecticut to pick him up in the afternoon. We made our way north, making a stop in Worcester, MA to pick up fuel for the camp stove and a stop in Concord, NH to pick up food and beer. We continued up I-93 through New Hampshire until we hit the Vermont state line. We pulled off in St. Johnsbury, VT at the intersection of I-93 and I-91 to fuel up and grab a quick snack. It was about midnight we were there. The only places open in the very small city were a gas station and a McDonald’s, both packed with people heading up for Phish. We fueled up and hit the McDonald’s. We found out from the girl at the drive-thru that the manager told them to stay open until people stopped coming through. She handed us a notepad and asked us to write our names and where we were from. She was doing it to see how many different places were represented. We spoke with a police officer in town who mentioned that the traffic started about an hour north of there. We didn’t know what to expect and drove until we hit the traffic. The officer was right. We drove for about another hour before we were stopped in the line of cars trying to get to Coventry. It was about 1:00 am on Friday morning at this point.

We parked the car and did what anyone else would do, got out and hung out with our neighbors. We chatted, drank, told Phish stories, etc. We had a grand old time and actually stayed up until the next morning. Around 9:00 a kid came running through yelling “They’re moving! They’re moving!” We hopped back in the car and continued driving. We probably drove for about half an hour, slowly. We ended up moving about 3-5 miles up the highway. At this point, they had us in two lanes - the breakdown lane and the right lane of the highway. We stopped and started a few more times throughout the day, hanging out whenever we weren’t moving. They had the left lane of the highway open for through traffic and people were staring at us and wondering why we were all parked on the side of the road like that. One Canadian couple drove through and asked what we were doing. When we told them we were there for a concert, they gave us a very confused look and continued on their way. People were drinking, smoking, doing whatever. It was a generally peaceful traffic jam. Everyone was united in their love for Phish. At one point on Friday evening, the cars stopped moving. We were still about 5 miles from the exit. Since we had been up the entire previous night, I crashed in the driver’s seat of my car. I woke up the next morning and it was a cold damp morning. We spent the morning listening to the radio station that Phish had setup for the event. On Saturday morning, the Vermont state police chief came on telling everyone that they were doing their best to get everyone in. However, around 10:00am, Mike came on the radio and read a statement that basically said that after discussing it with the police and the state, they would have to turn people away. Anyone who was left on the highway at that time would be turned away. If you were on the exit ramp or off the highway already, you were in. Once Mike finished his message, there was a loud “FUCK” heard from all the cars around us.

We learned that the problem was the rain that the state had gotten the week before. It was more rain than ever before. They were parking cars on grass fields, which had turned into mud. They were using farm tractors to pull the cars into the parking spaces one by one. It was a huge mess and the band had no choice.

People started packing up their stuff, taking bathroom breaks and deciding what they were going to do. Many people started discussing parking their cars, grabbing the necessities, and hiking in. Vermont state police cars were driving up and down the highway telling us that any cars parked on the side of the road would be towed. The people in front of us decided they were gonna hit the road back to Connecticut. They said The Breakfast was playing a couple shows and they would just party with them. Since both my friend and I had to work on Tuesday and I couldn’t afford to have my car towed, we just headed back. We drove as far as we could, saw the cops standing in the highway, and turned around to head south. We stopped off at a nearby rest area and chatted with some people there. We met a couple girls from New Hampshire who were nearly in tears because they were going to miss the final performance of their beloved band.

At the time, I was upset. When I got back home, I called up a friend who had made it in. He was pissed. He said they had one entrance, were bringing cars in one at a time. He said they could have done a better job at getting more cars into the site. To this day, he is still pissed at the band and is basically ignoring their reunion. And he’s not the only one. There are many fans who have held onto the grudge because of what went down at Coventry.

The band had announced they would give the people who turned away something, but hadn’t figured out what. Great, we were getting a consolation prize. I found out through message boards that the band actually had the nerve to thank people for walking in even though just a day before, they had asked us to leave. We followed their wishes and they were thanking the people who did not follow their wishes. I was not happy about that. I learned I would be getting a free download from LivePhish.com of the performance. I downloaded the show and realized it was one of their worst performances ever. Once I learned what I was getting for turning around, I was a little happier with my decision. I ended up with a photo book signed by all four members of the band. I cherish this book. It’s really one of the only things they could have given us to make up for turning around. I am glad I wasn’t at the show. I heard stories from people about how they were knee-deep in mud. Many people didn’t have their tents and were crashing with others. People had to pay lots of money to get rides from Vermonters into the show. It was a disaster.

In retrospect, I’m glad I wasn’t there watching my favorite band make a mockery of themselves, unable to play many of their classic songs properly. I was sad to see them go, but I would have been even sadder had I seen the pitiful performance at Coventry from the mud.

The next article in this series will discuss the post-breakup period and how I got through it.

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