And on the Final Day...

He rested...

And Then... Late Night.

No words can adequately describe the sight of a fire-breathing Cajun:

Just Some Good Ol' Boys

And there was a terrific band. Many thanks to TJ & the guys for coming by and here's me sitting in with them. As The Wife astutely yells out, I did flub half a line. But I think that's okay as - as I TOLD HER - it was to be a medley and I really wanted the NEXT song recorded on video. So I guess we're even as she choked on the camera work.

However, I am pretty sure that we'll be performing again and some day we can get the now infamous "Dukes of Hazzard" / "Fall Guy" theme song medley on video... Real New England country.

There Was Even Cake!

A nice photo-cake Momma made from our photo calendar.

Day 3: The Actual Party

It was fantastic. THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING and a special thanks to Mom for hosting what was a thermonuclear explosion. The weather held, the band was great, and the food was UNREAL. Had a lot of people travel in from pretty far away, and I was thrilled:

There was boating:

and jet-skiing:

and water sports:

The Lesson Learned

From riding in any of the inflatable devices is... "Don't mess with The Admiral." He always wins...

Night 2: Raisin' Hell In Brattleboro

So we decided to go in to Brattleboro to see TJ's band the "Truckdrivin' Neighbors Downstairs" play my favorite southern Vermont dive, the Mole's Eye Cafe. The ladies showed up midway through so we ended up closing the place and dancing up a storm. There were several highlights but I enjoyed the lead singer asking over the mic during a Johnny Cash song, "Hey Lee, what happens next?" Happily, I provided a hint toward the forgotten lyrics. I then joined them onstage for the last song, where we rehearsed our medley to great acclaim.

We returned to the house where some peeled off to bed, while some stayed up playing throw pong. It has to be said, after well over a decade of my dominance, Sugarpants RULED the table. Well done Chris. The band ended up coming over and staying on the porch with us until 4:00am.

Day 2: The Storm Before The Storm

We woke up a little sluggish on Friday morning and started prepping the house for the weekend. The Admiral came and we started getting the boat ready. We put the boat in the water and I drove the truck & trailer back to the house, forgetting I was dressed like a total jackass in a black Captain's hat and Baton Rouge PD shirt. I slowed down to pull in to our driveway and let a bicyclist by who looked at me and nervously asked, "Uh... Are you slowing down to talk to me about something?" "Nope. Carry on."

In the event of rain, Mom wanted us to put a tarp up which is where Gano's talents really stood out (to this point). As Chris & Matt helped him he assembled a truly remarkable example of Cajuneering that kept everyone dry, replete with gutters. I had Lynyrd Skynyrd playing in the background and he remarked, "Southern music for a southern project."

That completed, we sat under the tarp and enjoyed tapping the brand new keg with Sugartex on his faithful horse, "Saw" (having hitched a life preserver saddle).

Birthday Recap - Day 1: The Odyssey

We have pretty well documented the first day previously on the blog. Gano & I had a meeting Wednesday night that ended late with us meeting some friends. Which also ended late. Missed our morning train and stranded poor Matt at Penn Station before getting another. Had a couple drinks on the train, startled some fellow passengers and got to Hartford where we took a taxi to Mom's house to pick up the Mustang. This Gano drove to Bradley airport to leave for Chris to pick up when he arrived from Texas. Then we repaired to the Cloud Nine lounge for lunch and more beers.

Mom got us and drove us up to NH, with a quick run through the Yankee Candle Company.

Got to Spofford, went out to dinner at The Pub, went to watch a little Patriots preseason football at Elm City Brewery and then home, where Chris / Sugarpants had arrived from Texas. Naturally more frivolity ensued, including a broken table, before we all limped off to bed.

2008 LTG Lake Birthday Recap

Will be forthcoming... Have been thrown back in to the meat grinder workwise and haven't had a spare moment. Will do a full recap of what was truly an incredible weekend shortly. Stay tuned...

Grant got the same haircut as me

Per The Big Guy: thisisthesamehairasyou

Special Birthday Dinner

The Wife made a delicious steak dinner...

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yay!

Dinner with good folks

Gano, Matt, Mom. Awesome. At The Pub in Keene, NH.

Cloud Nine Lounge

wow... Had to drop off the Mustang for Chris at Bradley Airport in Hartford, then repaired to the Cloud Nine Lounge for a few drinks.

Gano in motion

Well... The train is anyway... Gano is in death throes.

Fixin's Bar

Fixin' to miss our train...

Pierogis for Dinner!

Was supposed to meet up with JD but the day got away from me workwise & had to postpone so I was at home. The Wife made a surprise dinner!

Kluge Discusses "Dog Day Afternoon"

Late Night at Chez Matt

Great work post-Kluge

Dog Day Afternoon

Went to a really good theater production of "Dog Day Afternoon" where Kluge led a Q & A session afterwards as he wrote the original article that became the movie. A great evening, and we had dinner with Kluge & Pamela before and many drinks after, where we talked our normal trash to each other about Flash-o-matic.

Hold that Yiger!

Hold that Yiger!
Originally uploaded by Guzilla.

An Incredible Day

I had one hell of a day yesterday...

A lot of work - Reuben came over to G2G Galactic HQ (our apartment) & we banged out an agreement where he is going to help us raise money. Then had a few conference calls.

Then dinner at the Oyster Bar Saloon with Cumby. (Yet another lobster...)

Then met Milo Z for drinks & he played some new music for me. He told me, "Lee, you are the only one I trust to show my new stuff too." I then immediately copied it to my ipod... (With his permission.)

A great day all around. Productive, and fun as hell...

The Admiral's Best Time Ever

Eric "The Admiral" set his best time ever at Limerock yesterday with a 1:02.6! Nice one, Admiral!

My Simian Navigator

On our way back from the Cape and my monkey navigator is even wearing a hat that reads "Navigator". You know... So you can tell.

Lunch at Tugboats

In Hyannis Harbor. Tugboats is one of our favorite spots that we hit every time we're up on the Cape. Tremendous lobster.

Wimpy's in Osterville

Another favorite on the Cape. Likely the best clam chowder in the whole world. Plus, Wimpy's has been a family favorite for many many years...

Cape Cod

Spending a long weekend up at the Cape with Lynne & Mark.

Well this is odd...

Apparently there is an American Vampire League fighting for equal rights for vampires. Their slogan is "Vampires were people too."

Yatta!

This song means the world to my wife & I. For those who attended our wedding, you can find it as the Bonus Track on our wedding CD.

It means so much to us for a lot of reasons, but mostly because of our lucky, blessed, deep and meaningful friendship with Renfield & Hiroko (and now Chikage!) They -- unquestionably -- were the best thing to come out of my time in Japan. So... Enjoy:

New Yorker Caption Contest

After my weeks of despair over the Will Simon of Brooklyn, NY incident I have decided to once again join the fray, having submitted this entry to the New Yorker's Caption Contest:

Chilling Henderson, chilling. But does anyone have a scary story that does NOT involve our third quarter results?

I mention it here because I am sure it is far too amusing to actually win...

Quick Recap

Been hugely busy with work so haven't been updating. Spent the past weekend in New Hampshire, helping Mom prep the Lake House with the tremendous help of Marvelous Matt S. & The Admiral.

Last night, The Wife & I traveled to Brooklyn to have dinner with Kevin & a VERY pregnant Alissa, due in October. Great Italian food & great to see them, as always...

Dancing With The Universe

As overplayed & covered by the press as this may have been, it's still pretty cool.

Sunny Sugarpants Sunday

Matt & I met Chris on his return trip from Jack's wedding. Then The Wife returned from Delaware & joined us for sunny deck cocktails. A nice Sunday after an EXTREMELY low-key weekend for me.

And... Right back to NYC

A brutal 24 hour round trip across the country and back, but worth every minute & mile.

The Great Black Bat Redux

There's the Golden Gate!

The Great Black Bat

Hunter had his Great Red Shark. Here in Tiburon, Gano & I have The Bat.

Sam's

After our meeting, we were recommended to go to Sam's Anchor Cafe. A tremendous selection and we enjoyed some oysters & beer on the sunny deck.

A VERY successful meeting!

THAT went VERY well!

Driving over Golden Gate

Socked in in fog.

Welcome to San Francisco

Just landed SF and Gano & I are on our way to our meeting.

Super Monkey Birthday Recap

In an epic feat of derring-do, we shocked the monkey for her birthday last week. Beginning with drinks Thursday night outdoors in the back at Sweet & Vicious, with Lynne & our delightful waitress dueling with one-armed cartwheels in the courtyard.

Then we proceeded to karaoke until the very wee hours, with everyone in good voice.

As previously mentioned, Christian got tickets for us to attend the patriotic Sox / Yankees game at Yankee Stadium on Friday the 4th.

THEN, as the rain started to fall, we began to spring the trap. I insisted we watch the rest of the game at The Bowling Alley. Where, unbeknownst to The Wife, Marvelous Matt S. & Elfy were waiting. I had packed a bag for her & I had arranged a car service to take us from the Bronx out to her parents' house -- we kidnapped her from the game, and took her to NJ.

Where.... ALSO unbeknownst to her, we had a good 15-20 people waiting for her to yell "Surprise!" It was great, she had no idea whatsoever and was very moved, particularly as her Dad recorded a video letter to her that was entertaining and touching.

Well done, Team. Thanks for all the help. She was truly overwhelmed and I could not have done it without the help of all of you.

Happy 4th!

Red Sox vs. Yankees in the last year of The Stadium. God bless America.

Happy Birthday Wife!!

It's The Wife's birthday today!

Just as Christmas Eve is full of excitement & anticipation as children of all ages all over the world await the arrival of Santa Claus and Christmas Day, it seems only fitting that my spouse, the love-of-my-life, was born on "Independence Eve"... That's right. The "Bride of Guzilla" is the Independence Day equivalent of Santa Claus.

Happy birthday, sweetie. And God bless America.

A Tree Fell Down in Gramercy Park

Apparently directly ON one of the benches I frequent. (!!)