Little Shindig at the Breglias

We were in Delaware, Ohio this weekend, catching up with some good friends. It was a grand ol' time, though we missed Mahoney, the Kleins, JR and a few others who couldn't make the trip. Maybe next year. We don't have a lot of photos from the weekend, though I will post a few. If you have an awesome snapshot, or video (like baby wrestling), send it to us, and we will try to get in on.

The Tweedles: Dave, Brooks and Chandra



Doug and Owen - the happy hosts.


Jack in the box. Little Andjreczyck had some fun in the kiddie castle.


Sorry, I couldn't flip this photo. Sometimes computers annoy me. But seriously folks, I know a lot of you have fun photos, so send them to gromen@yahoo.com.


Jax and big sister Stacey




Daddy Phil and Zach.



It was great to see everyone who was able to make the trip. Davenport and Adrienne won the award for greatest distance traveled (with D-port flying in from Bean-town and Adrienne bounding in from Wilmington, NC). Big Andy and was able to share openly and unabashedly...and had a number of us in stitches. Massey made a surprise guest appearance, and a few brave souls shared a few jello-shots with him.

Funny...Drew Mikita called earlier in the night, from Colorado...so we crank-called him back. We were simultaneously watching the OU v Miami bball game on tv. He was watching the game in CO....and we watched them get their butts kicked....terrible...pathetic 32-14 half-time score. The MAC is goofy. Kent State was ranked 24th in the country and managed to lose to Bowling Green this weekend....a team that OU spanked at home last weekend.

On the Bongos... Phil Prudich

Last night, Kent and I went to a Jazz Concert at OU. The first group to play was a percussion ensemble that consisted of about ten students playing xylophone, drums, piano, bongos etc. There were four xylophonists (?) and one looked dead on Phil Prudich. He's tall, lanky, wears glasses and has the same hairline. Even his posture and nuances were Phil. Let me say now, that we were in the fifth row of the balcony, but still, in my mind it was Phil.

So the percussion ensemble plays their four songs or so and they leave. Then the Jazz Ensemble II come out to play. This is a more traditional band, with sax, trumpet, trombone, and bass. On their second song, Phil joins in on bongos! He only played that one song with them and no more.

By this time, that person on stage is Phil Prudich. When he comes out again with Jazz Ensemble I to play drums, I can't even think of this kid as anyone but Phil. I try to talk myself out of the concept, that this is just some college kid, blah blah blah, but I can't. No matter what I do, it's Phil. Phil is the master drummer. He's kind of the leader of the band, calling out "one, two, a one, two three four". It's crazy. The whole time he was out there it was Phil, in my mind. So, I guess the lesson here, is that Phil can play the drums.

Athens in the news

Since alot of our readers are former Athenians, I thought I would give an update of what's going on in this town.

1. Chipotle is coming to town. At one time, I would revel in this. But to be honest, I am not a huge fan of C anymore. The burritoes are too big and I often feel sick afterward. Figures, because it is owned by McDonalds. However, I know that many people/students are ecstatic about the coming. And it is better than as empty storefront.

2. Empty Storefronts on Court St.: Old Woolworth building (this will never change in our lifetime). Old Burger King. Tiny store next to Athena Cinema. Barons (Soon). Blue Gator and Seven Sauces are for sale. I guess that means that cheap food is in and sit-down fine cuisine is out.

3. Campus building. This is non stop. The newest groudbreaking is on West Green behind Stocker. OU is building another engineering building in the old river bed. (If you are familiar with Smallcombs disc golf course, this is hole 2 and 3.) They are also adding on to Porter Hall. They just finished a new dorm on South Green and Baker was completed just a year ago. Before that they built the Bentley Annex, the Life Sciences building, and a new HR office building on Union St where the old lumber store was. In the works are 2 new buildings, one for the Student Health Services and one for Alumni.

4. OU is going to buy the HDL Center AKA the old McBee building on Union St.

5. The Athens Criterion is trying to make a comeback. This was a staple event in the eighties and early nineties. Cyclists would race around the brick streets of Athens. It is very tense to watch them come around the corner of Congress onto Union St by Bromley Hall (old College Inn). Steep hill plus tight turn equals possible death. not for the faint of heart.

Oh there is always more to report but I'll stop here.

Doggie

Kara called to my attention the fact that a beagle won the Westminster Dog Show. This was a big surprise, since a beagle had never won the award before. Well, all I have to say is that it is about time. Although I prefer bigger dogs, I do adore Snoopy. Besides, it seems like the beagle is the everyperson's dog. It's not some frou frou dog. For a small dog, it has character. Yeah Snoopy! See, he even has a heart and it's valentines day!

When I was a kid, the peanuts were my favorite and Snoopy was the best of all. I had a couple of Snoopy stuff animals. I think they are still at Mom and Dad's. My favorite outfit to wear was my "Let's face it, I'm cool" Snoopy shirt and my Pac-Man hat. I somehow "lost" my pac-man hat, but I always thought my Mom gave it away because she didn't want me to wear the hat so much (and I did wear it everywhere, I looked like a boy). But now I know that I have a propensity to lose things, even when I cherish them, so most likely I left the hat at a friends house. Sorry for blaming you Mom. And if you did give it away, no biggie. I'm sure it made someone else just as happy as it made me.

Circus time

The Golden Dragon Acrobats came to town last night. This was a performance of majestical feats of contortion, balance, and most of all strength.

There was the spinning plates routine, balance on the stack of chairs routine, (that they had to do in front of the stage since the stage wasn't tall enough. Carol and I sat in the second row so these guys were right in front of us. I could feel the guys sweat. Okay, not reall
and my favorite (also new to me) was the spinning wheel routine. The acrobats would get in these human sized hamster wheels (for lack of a better description). But these hamster wheels were not attached to anything. So they rolled around in all different sizes of these things, one, two, or three people to a wheel. Fascinating. Plus the music was techno-ish and the blacklights were used.
Overall it was a very exciting performance for us Athens Countians. We need some good clean entertainment occasionally.

Tony Xenos

Last saturday, our neighbor Tony graced the Front Room with his musical presence. It was a good show, lasting almost 2 hours. He had a couple friends join him for a few songs.



More squeezebox!
The man of many talents, Rob Powell played alongside Tony. Rob has also played music at both weddings that I have officiated. Kent has photographed both weddings I have officiated. We are beginning to think we should go on the road. However, I don't thing Rob is going to make Kara and Ethan's wedding this spring in Idaho. However, Kara, if you need a musician...

winter pics

As mentioned, we had snow recently. Kent took some time before going to work one morning to experiment with the new lens he bought around Christmas. Plus, there is nothing like fresh snow and a blue sky to make a quality photo.

The ridges at OU is home to various sculptural art. I believe that is the Voinovich Center in the background. A driftwood quadruped graces the fore.

Old barns are synonymous with Appalachia.





Mist rising from the Hocking as the sun shines on Whites Mill.