Thanksgiving Eve at Nuts & Bolts

Thanksgiving Eve is probably the most well-attended night at bars and nightclubs across the country, as practically everybody in the world has the next day off.  All of the gay bars on Long Island were having special parties to mark the occasion, and even the M Lounge had their monthly get together last night.  Among all of the stiff competition going on for Thanksgiving Eve bar dollars was the opening of Nuts & Bolts, a new bar in Holbrook that's been a long time coming.

I've long been complaining about the nightlife scene here on Long Island.  Ever since entering back into the fray of singledom five years ago, I found that the bar scene out here had been decimated at best.  What was once a thriving community of choices and types of bars had become a sparse, disjointed mess, with the few clubs out there catering to the twinkie and drag queen set.  Now there's much more I can say about that, but this is a topic for another time.

Enter Nuts  Bolts, a bar whose opening had been rumored since last spring, but had yet to come to life until last night.  I had actually met the partner of one of the owners a couple of weeks ago at M Lounge.  His name is Bernard and he gave me the scoop on the new place, and I posted a preview of it on Examiner last Saturday.  Opening night was last night, Thanksgiving Eve, and judging by the crowd at the new place and the competition for the night, the evening was a smashing success!

I won't go into all of the details about the place itself here...I just posted my review of it here, but I will tell you that I had a great time.  Talk of the opening was the buzz at bowling on Tuesday and many of my fellow bowlers were on hand, in addition to other friend I'd not seen in a long time from the old Bunk House, Fire Island and other places.  My pal Dit also came by to check it out and he was equally impressed.

So hopefully the place will endure.  It is a much needed local alternative for people like me, who often get ignored by the cliquish crowds found at other bars.  One opinion, though, while I'm thinking about it, is that they need to establish an anchor night that will attract the kind of crowd that they had last night.  The place will be open 7 nights a week, and so surely they won't be getting the type of crowd they got last night.  There will be a disco night on Sundays starting at 6, but maybe an extended happy hour on a Friday or even a Thursday might bring in larger amounts of people on a regular basis.  Just a thought!

Anyway, I'm sure you'll be hearing more about it from me as time goes on. In the meantime, here are a few pictures...

Me and Bernard

Me and my pal Sean

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Writing Wednesday, June 13th, 2012: Pride Month, The Weekend, Miscellany

Wednesday always seems to come so fast. Well, I guess time just goes fast in general.  It's the one place I disagree with Madonna: time does not go by so slowly....  Anyway, let's get right into what I've been writing about this week:

cyndilauperarchive

Pride Month

June is Pride month and I've been penning a few pieces, though not as many as I would like, on all of the celebrations coming up, culminating with the big show in NYC.  Last Saturday I went to the Long Island Pride Parade and Festival for the first time and I reviewed it on Examiner (The LI Pride Parade: A Day of Sunshine Despite the Gloom), and I wrote a little bit about it here, along with some photos (A Nice Gay Saturday).

Then a really cool thing happened, though it hasn't been too cool since.  Let me explain...

A few weeks back I wrote a piece on the events around NYC's Pride Week and I've been tweeting it as I do ever since.  Well a little while after a tweet on Monday, I got a reply from a Mr. Chris Frederick, who is the organizer for the whole thing.  He told me there were mistakes in the piece and after a little back and forth, I fixed them.  (In reality all but one mistake was made simply because I didn't have information.)

Any who, some of the information he gave me lead me to write another piece, which is pretty self-explanatory from the title: Cyndi Lauper to Headline NYC's 'Dance on the Pier.'  Cool, right?  I went to that dance during my first time at Pride a couple of years ago and I didn't really have much fun...way too crowded, for one thing.  Anyway, the fact that Cyndi Lauper is going to be performing makes it very alluring once again...

Chris was a very nice guy, and he offered to give me quotes and official pictures, but since it's the second to the last week of school, Mr. Myers has had very little time for writing (UGH!).  I wrote him back with the corrected piece, but I haven't heard from him since.  Ah well, I guess he's pretty busy, too!

The Weekend

I've got to say, doing these weekend event pieces for Examiner really gets my juices flowing.  Reading and writing about some of the many music and other outdoor festivals, shows and concerts really makes me wish I had time to do them all.  Anyway, I think as the summer plods along, things are heating up.  Lot's of cool stuff This Weekend on Long Island.

Music Miscellany

I sometimes wish my job was being a writer full time, because there's so much I never have time to get out there, especially concerning music.  This week I wanted to mention Madonna shooting a new video for "Turn Up the Radio" in Rome, the little backlash from Gaga over Madge's little mash-up, Gaga's concussion, P!nk's gall bladder, and The Wanted possibly doing something with Jennifer Lopez, but I never got to any of that, lol.  The only music thing I posted, other than Song of the Day, was a little news bit about Lady Gaga having already completed most of her newest album.  Check out Gaga's got a new album.

Well, it's a good thing I didn't write anymore because it's way past my bedtime...Have an awesome Thursday and thanks for reading!

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Monday, June 11th, 2012 - Time Heals

Where to start, where to start?  Just last Tuesday I was rambling on here that things were in a really down mode for me, and now, almost a week later, they don't seem as bad.  I think that time is by far the best healer of all things: my body's feeling much better, I'm now five days closer to the end of the school year, and I've managed to get in a little fun over the weekend...oh, and I got some really good news, too!  Really, this could end up being a very long post, but I'm going to try and keep it as short as possible...

The Good Stuff First

On Friday morning I awoke to find a surprise email from an educational book publisher in Ireland.  It seems they like a poem I wrote awhile back (Push and Pull), and they want to include it in a teacher's manual they're publishing for a program geared towards 11-12 year olds.  How cool is that?  I'm currently in 'negotiations,' so stay tuned.

Last Week's Mess


In last week's post I said that a lot of things were going on in my life, and they were.  One of my ex's nephews passed away suddenly and I suddenly found myself going to my second wake in three nights, and with this one I got to see Joe's family, whom I hadn't seen for almost five years.  That kind of explains my Song of the Day choice from last Monday, which coincidentally would have been mine and Joe's 25th anniversary.

Anyway, yeah I was feeling sentimental, but not really over Joe or anything like that.  It was actually good to see so many people who were once a part of my family, and like I said in the post, I was feeling their pain.

And then there's school!  For privacy reasons, I can't recount much of what's been happening there, only to say that it's been major.  At least three of my students have been embroiled in 'scandals' at school and I've been left to clean up the mess as yet a fourth one tests my mettle.  The biggest of the problems was brought to me within five minutes of returning from surgery and things have only intensified since.  Every day's been a new mountain to climb and hopefully by Thursday, much of the stress will have been alleviated.

So it's been one hell of a ride the past several weeks, but I'm getting to a point where I've learned to just let it roll off my sleeve and try not to get too stressed over it.  Summer's coming and I've started putting pleasant thoughts about the upcoming break in the forefront of my mind, and again, as time has passed, things don't seem as bad.

LOL

A Nice, Gay Saturday

Saturday was Long Island's Gay Pride Parade and Festival and I went for the very first time in my life, with my two pals Blanche and Dita.  Though it was a gloomy day and there was a lot of standing involved, I had a great time.  LI's Pride Celebration is one of the biggest outside of NYC's, and this one featured some nice entertainment and a colorful crowd.

Though it had been a really long day at the festival, I found myself in the mood to go out and have a little fun, so I decided at the last minute to go to Cherry Grove for the first time of the season, not counting Memorial Sunday, of course.  My pal Manny was over there renting a place and I met up with him and his friends for what turned out to be a really fun night.

So here I am, the Monday hump is over and tomorrow is the last day of classes at school.  The good things that've happened since Friday have put me in a better place and I'm certainly looking to better days ahead.  I got my first good workout since my surgery, so hell yeah!  Check out some pictures of Saturday's parade and festival below, and as always, thanks for reading!

The High Heel Race

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Writing Wednesday, May 30th, 2012

Happy Hump Day everyone!  Today is Wednesday, May 30th and it's hard to believe that June is right on our doorstep already, but it is.  Ah, time flies...  Here's this week's Writing Wednesday:


Portland, TN

Strawberry Festivals

Summer is time for outdoor fests and the season always starts in June with great Strawberry Festivals celebrating the harvest of the delectable fruit.  Check out all of the strawberry festivals happening around Long Island next month:

Strawberry Festivals around Long Island

Gay Pride

June is gay pride month and I've been posting several pieces on Examiner covering all the pride events happening in and around the NYC Metropolitan area.  Check em out:

NYC

Long Island

Outer Boroughs and New Jersey

Sponsor a Youth for a Gay Prom

Every year, LIGALY (Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth) holds a prom for gay youth as an alternative to the 'straight-up' kind.  This event gives these kids a chance to be themselves and the organization is seeking donations to help defray the cost of the event for these kids.  Check it out and donate right here.

More Donna Summer

Here's a new piece I wrote for Yahoo Voices, featuring some great Donna Summer songs you probably don't even know.  Check it out right here, and check out Donna's "Supernatural Love":

John's World

A Walking Roller Coaster

This is cool!  Just cool!

Memoirs: Cherry Grove and Dark Clouds

The latest from my so-called life.

Music

What's a week on John's World without a little music news and videos?  Take a look at these:

Lady Gaga cancels Indonesian concert

Summer Music Spotlight

Crowded House drummer passes away at 45

There's also been some great new music featured on John's World this week.  Check these out:

Kylie Minogue - Timebomb

Calvin Harris and Ne-Yo - Let's Go

Pauline - Give Me a Call (well, this one's new to me, but it's oh so good!)

Scissor Sisters - Only the Horses

Nelly Furtado - Big Hoops

Well I think that's enough reading for today, lol.  Enjoy!

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Writing Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

Well it's been two weeks once again since my last WW, but at this time last week I was in the hospital after my surgery, so at least I've got an excuse.  In the past week that I've been home recuperating, I've been doing a lot of writing, mostly for Examiner.  Check it out:

Gay Pride is Coming

June is Gay Pride month.  Ever since the Stonewall riots in June of 1969, gay people have stood loud and proud every year to commemorate the event and show some unity in the face of hatred and discrimination, something I feel very strongly about.  New York City, the birthplace of the gay pride movement has the biggest such celebration in the world, and Long Island's is not too shabby either.  Here's the lowdown on both events:

NYC Pride Week 2012 events

The 2012 LI Pride Parade and Festival, Saturday, June 9th

R.I.P. Donna Summer

Just six days ago, iconic singer Donna Summer lost a bout with cancer, something no one really even knew she had.  Donna Summer was one special singer.  She was music royalty, and she was one of my favorite divas.  I've been paying tribute to Donna ever since, both with a week's worth of Songs of the Day and some pieces I penned.  Currently I'm planning just one more piece, which has yet to be written.  I'm just waiting for both the time to do so and deciding where to put it.  

So yes, the Donna Summer tributes will continue, at least for a little while.  I think she's worth it, and I believe the coverage and tributes to her have been too little for such an icon.  She was low key, but she deserves a bit higher key for all she's given us in the form of great music.  Here's a tribute piece I penned in honor of her and the gay community that loved her so much:

Remembering Donna Summer, an atypical gay icon

And here are some great Donna Summer tunes that have been featured this week:

I Will Go With You

MacArthur Park

Could It Be Magic

Carry On

Romeo

No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)

Defending My Own

Most of my readers know that I am a teacher, and a proud one at that.  After seeing yet another newspaper article about teacher jobs being cut in the latest round of budget votes, I was motivated to write this piece:

In defense of teachers

Summer Concerts at Jones Beach

The Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, Long Island is my favorite place to see a concert.  Every summer, the theater puts on a summer festival of the best of music old and new and this year's schedule can be found here, of course with a little commentary by me:

The Jones Beach Theater Summer Concert Series 2012 lineup

New Coasters

Roller coasters and theme parks are a big part of this John's world, and here's a rundown of the newest thrill rides coming to an amusement park near you:

Theme parks newest roller coasters for 2012 Season

There's been plenty more posted here on John's World, but I think I've already given you enough to read, lol.  If you like, just take a look at the sidebar to check out some new coaster videos, a hateful speech against gays by a North Carolina pastor, an obituary for the Bee Gees' Robin Gibb, who passed away last Sunday, and much more.  As always, thanks for checking in with me!  have a great Thursday!

Image Sources:

Gay Pride - J. Myers

Donna Summer - stereogum 

Jones Beach Theater - gatewayinnlongisland

Verbolten, Busch Gardens Williamsburg - MSNBC

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Writing Wednesday, May 9th, 2012: Theater; Ziplining; Gay Marriage

It seems that lately my time for writing has gotten less and less, and this past week has been no exception.  Whereas almost the entire month of April was filled with posts from the Blogger's Challenge, I've gone into the month of May with dollar signs in my eyes.  That is, I've been trying to concentrate my pieces in places that earn me money, namely Examiner.

This past week I've posted three articles to Examiner, one to each title I carry there.  They're pretty "high interest" pieces, and so if you haven't checked them out yet, here's your chance:

Gateway Theater's Spectacular Summer 2012 Lineup

For those who live here on Long Island, the Gateway Theater is known for its' wonderful productions of Broadway caliber shows.  Every summer, the theater puts on several productions that are all well-received, and this year's crop sounds like a nice collection of shows.  I may just have to catch one or two...

Florida Eco-Safaris at Forever Florida

I first came across this place from a Google alert on roller coasters.  The article that piqued my interest spoke of America's first zip line roller coaster, and since I am a zip line veteran I checked it out.  Forever Florida is an expansive conservation area in Central Florida that's got a lot of zip lining...and cool sounding zip lining at that!  Check out this preview of a place I definitely want to check out next time I'm in that area, for sure!

Obama's Bold Statement a Long Time Coming

By now, most of you have heard that today President Obama finally stated his support of same sex marriage.  He's the first President to have ever done so and I say what took so long?  Politics, that's what, stupid, ridiculous politics.

Well that's all for this week.  I penned a piece for Yahoo, as well, but I'm still waiting for that one to be published.  As always, thanks for checking me out!

Image Sources:

flashlafayette

travelocity

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Writing Wednesday

This is the busiest time of the year for me as a teacher as I prepare for state tests, do some final planning, and tons of other stuff, so I haven't really had a lot of time for writing. Once again, most of the things I've written this week have been right here on John's World, with the exception of one piece for Examiner. Take a look:


The Old Bunk House

The New Bunk House

Last Saturday, the newest incarnation of a Long Island mainstay, The Bunk House, held its Grand Opening Gala. I was on hand to check out the new digs and I wrote about it from two perspectives, on Examiner as a straight-up review, and here for a more personal view of the night. Check out:

The all-new Bunk House: A great start for a new Saturday night dance party on LI

Grand Opening Gala at the new Bunk House




Who is Joseph Kony?

Last week there was a viral video going around about this dude in Uganda that makes Saddam Hussein look like a pussycat. The video is part of a campaign to make people aware of just who Joseph Kony is in the hopes that finally someone will do something about him and call for his capture. If you're going to read any of the pieces in this post, make it this one!

Doing Something - Do You Know Who Joseph Kony Is?



Fat Cats

I always knew, but this week I was zapped into reality that my two kitties, Dylan and Diego must lose some weight. I always thought it was kind of cute how tubby they were, but really it is a serious health issue.

A Weighty Problem: Fat Cats

So Called Friends

Go On, Be Mad: It's Your Problem, Not Mine

This was a piece I wrote earlier today. It's somewhat of a rant against certain people in my life, past and present, who, for whatever reason, have decided to either stop talking to me or just keep their distance. I wanted them to know that I've realized that this is no longer a problem for me and it is their loss if they choose to continue to act like this. None of them will probably read it, but at least if felt good to get it off my chest!

Music



M.D.N.A.

With Madonna's new album coming very soon, I wanted to share much of the buzz going on about it, all in one place, including some very glowing reviews!

M.D.N.A.: Fast, Furious, and Glowing!

Music Shorts

In addition to these items, I posted several short items centered on, what else, music. Last Friday was the 15th Anniversary of the death of The Notorious B.I.G. and I posted one of his most favored songs in tribute. Check out "Hypnotize."

Kelly Clarkson covers P!nk

Kelly Clarkson recently covered P!nk's "F**king Perfect" at a recent concert in an awesome rendition.

In other music news, it looks like there's going to be another Madonnathon on Aprill 1st somewhere in NYC. I just caught a quick link on Madonna's World and shared the teaser here. Also, fabulous Brit boy band The Wanted finally announced yesterday that they will be releasing an album especially put together for distribution here in the U.S. Check out the new album cover for their self-titled U.S. debut here.



Well, that's all she wrote for this week. I hope to get some things out on Examiner and Yahoo Voices in the coming week, as well as a piece for Gather, so stay tuned....lots of things in the cooker! Have a great week!

Image Sources:

Metroline


ibtimes

John M

The National

young male celebs

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Grand Opening Gala at the new Bunk House

Here we are again late on a Sunday night! Why does the weekend go by so fast? Never mind…don’t answer that. I already know it’s because it’s our own time, right? Well, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from life is that time does go by quickly, and the older you get, the faster it goes….Ah, well, whaddayagonna do?



The Bunk Revisited

Last night my friend and I went to the “Grand Opening Gala” of the all-new Bunk House. I have to admit, I had mixed feelings about going. On the plus side, last night was a short night, with Daylight Savings and all, and the new club is only about a mile or two from home. I really didn’t want to take two hours of a short night to go all the way into Splash or the new XL (gotta try that place!), but one big detriment to going was the drag show that would be featured at the “gala.”

Call me old fashioned, I do enjoy drag shows every once in awhile, but back in the day they were held on off nights, like a Sunday, to bring people in on a night when they might not ordinarily come out. Saturday night is always a night for dancing and mingling and a drag show just puts everything to a halt at a time when a club is most likely to be crowded. Maybe it’s just me. Who knows?

Also there’s that Long Island factor. Maybe I’ve just gotten used to the clubs in the city, but I started going there in the first place because for one thing, the crowds at bars out here have been a crapshoot the past few years, and also Long Island people are just not nice in general. They’re as clicky as clicky gets, and if you’re not a part of the click, well… (Oh, I’ve got a lot more to say about that!). But in the end I decided to go anyway and I’m glad I did.

Now I’m not going to use this space to describe the new club. I wrote a review on it earlier today which you can read here. All I’ll say is that I like it. The place is much bigger than the old one, with a bigger dance floor and a nice sized, mixed crowd. I said in the review that it is very reminiscent of the old Gation/Luxe at Industry in Levittown, which was a good space for a good time.

We got to the Bunk around 11ish and it was already packed. The parking lot was already full and so both of us had to park on the street, which I wouldn’t normally like to do except for this special occasion, being an opportunity to contribute to my Examiner page.

It seemed as if everyone came out for this. Many people I knew were there, including my friends Tony, Lisa, Paul, and a whole crew of peeps I hadn’t seen since the summer at the Grove. Eileen, the owner was there of course, and so was Eddie who puts on these dance parties. I will say that being a writer definitely is nice, as I was greeted by several people just because of that (Cool, huh?).

The place was packed, almost too packed, as they had four bartenders working one large bar and the wait for a drink was long every time. It was nice to see, though, for it’s been a long time since a LI club seemed like a city one.

The music was pretty good, except every now and then you’d hear the same song for the second time, which is something I’ll never understand. As a former deejay myself, I would never have played a song twice in a night unless it was super-hot. There were probably about three or four songs played twice, and with so much other good stuff out there, I have to say WTF! (Mental note: they played a nice remix/dance version of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” that I’ve gotta get my hands on…stay tuned, it just may be a future “Song of the Day!”)

My pal and I made a quick exit once we heard someone say the drag show was coming on in five minutes. It was around 2:30, new time, anyway, so that was okay. All in all, it was a good night and I’d say the new Bunk is someplace I’d definitely go to again, especially when I want to save money on those expensive tolls and of course, the gas that gets me into the city.

Love this song!







Image Source: Facebook

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Writing Wednesday - Good Stuff and Lots of Music News

Other than a couple of pieces on Examiner, the rest of this week's stuff appeared here on John's World. Here's the rundown:

Examiner



10th Annual Hamptons Restaurant Week coming March 18th

Restaurant Weeks have become a popular and fun way to enjoy dining out, and in a little over a week, the East End of Long Island is putting on its' 10th Annual Hamptons Restaurant Week.

LGBT Community of Long Island is finally abuzz with activity


The LI LGBT community has been abuzz with activity lately, and this piece recaps all of the special events, new clubs, and online communities that have been popping up all over the place.



John's World

M.D.N.A.thon at Splash

My recap of last Friday's Madonnathon at Splash in NYC. What a night!

Recovering; Tornadoes; We Have a Winner; Happy Birthday Blanchie!


New Blogrolls; A Madonna High; Another Madonnathon Coming this Summer

These are two of my personal journal-type posts this week. This is one of the kinds of posts that got me started with this blog and I hope to keep up with them more often in the coming weeks. Good stuff here, so check em out!

Music Items on John's World



I love to share the many exciting things I hear going on in the music world, and this week there was plenty of good stuff:

Song of the Day - It's All About U - SWV

I posted an SWV "Song of the day" after learning that these fabulous women of 90's R&B are coming back. Very excited!

Florence + The Machine Releasing an MTV Unplugged Album

The title says it all! Click on the article for more...

The Wanted to Return to US for TV Appearances

The latest hot boy band from the UK are riding a high with their song "Glad You Came," and they're back in the States for another spell of appearances.

P!nk Tweets "NEW RECORD TIME"

The most exciting music item of the week came as a surprise, as one of my favorite singer/songwriters is coming back with a new record!

Image Sources:

27east

John's World

pnk-zone

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February 8th - Writing Wednesday - Madonna, Gloria, Madonna, RiRi & Christina, Madonna

Today is Wednesday, Hump Day, and now we’re on the down swing towards the weekend, thankfully. It’s been a long week already and I’m so ready for the weekend to come again, if for just to dance and sleep late. Work has been crazy every day and I’ve already got my sights set on winter break, which is only one more week away.

John’s World




Madonna

Most of the writing I’ve done this week has been right here on John’s World. The big story I’ve been covering has been the triumphant return of my very own special diva, Madonna. A week’s worth of posting Madonna Songs of the Day was capped off, of course, by the release of her newest song, “Gimme All Your Luvin,” on Friday.

Upon watching the video for the first time, I immediately went into commentary mode, penning and posting Madonna's Give Me All Your Luvin': Commentary, Video, Lyrics and more, my take on the video, the song, and everything else to do with it.

Next, of course came the big show, the much anticipated and long awaited Super Bowl Halftime Show, which I just now watched over again for like the 4th or 5th time. When it first aired live on Sunday night, I really was in awe because it was even better than I expected it to be, but afterwards I was genuinely surprised at all the criticism heaped on both her and the performance. I had to say something about both the show and the reaction in Madonna’s Super Bowl Performance: Wow! Now let’s stop hatin’ and move on…

There was another big story which I failed to cover (time constraints, grrrr!!!) yesterday and that was the announcement of Madonna's newest tour. The MDNA Tour begins May 29th in Tel Aviv, Israel and makes its stop in New York on September 6th at Yankee Stadium, and guess who got his ticket already? Big smile!

Other Stuff

It Gets Better Project video for Lady Gaga’s “Hair”

When I saw this cute video done in Glee-style for the It Gets Better Project, I just had to share it, as well as a little bit about the very worthy cause it stands for.



The Return of Ferris Bueller

One of the best things about any Super Bowl, of course, is the commercials. There was one awesome commercial for Honda that recreated some of the magic of that great 80’s film.

A Christina-Rihanna Collab in the Works?

Word that Christina Aguilera may be joining Rihanna for a reworked version of her “Birthday Cake” just made me all oogey inside.

Extra Special Songs

Over the weekend I posted two very special Songs of the Day. Though I wouldn’t normally refer to these types of posts here, both tunes are definitely worth a listen if you’re reading down this far. The first is from a newcomer from the UK named Emeli Sande’ and the song is called “Next to Me,” from her forthcoming debut album, “Our Version of Events.” The next one is by Brit boy band The Wanted, and it has become my new favorite song, so much so that I keep listening to it over and over again. Please check out “Glad You Came.”



Examiner

I penned only one piece for Examiner this week and it’s for a very special event going on at Splash this Friday. Check out Gloria Estefan at Splash this Friday.

Yahoo Voices

How Will Madonna’s “Gimme All Your Luvin” Stack Up Against Her Previous lead Singles

With all of the excitement surrounding Madonna’s new song, I wanted to do a retrospective on all of Madge’s lead singles from her previous 11 studio albums. Good stuff!



Image Sources:

Third Age

New Paltz University

last fm

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February 1st, 2012 - Writing Wednesday

Happy February, though you'd never know it from the weather here in New York. Today was one of the most spring-like days you can imagine, warm and sunny and a day to just be outside doing whatever. I've been a really busy boy these days writing, but things are a little different this week. Check it out and you'll see...



Yahoo Voices Top 1000 of 2011


Yesterday I got a very surprising email from Yahoo telling me that for the second year in a row I've been named one of the Top 1000 Writers at Yahoo Voices for 2011. This was something I wasn't expecting at all, considering I've written less and less for them in recent months. I do have almost 400K page views, so I guess I really did alright. I am humbled and very grateful for the honor! Yahoo!

Examiner

Spring-like temps on Long Island a sign of the apocalypse? Nah!

The weather was so nice today I wanted to make a few comments about it on this blog, but when I did a little searching I found some interesting stuff about why we're having such a mild (to put it mildly) winter. It may be year 2012, but this is definitely not what the Mayans predicted.

Long Island Pride website readies for this year's Long Island Pride Event


The Long Island Pride Parade organizers are already getting ready for this year's event. It happens on Saturday, June 9th and they've got a new website to help them make it the biggest and best yet.



Gallo Restaurant of Patchogue: fine "comida Colombiana" at a great price


Gallo (pronounced 'ga-yo,' for you non Spanish speakers out there) is an excellent Colombian restaurant in my hometown of Patchogue. The food is fantastic, the prices great, and they've got an adorable waiter there by the name of Edgardo. Delicious yucca fritta, too!

Yahoo Voices

Tacosagne

Yup, for the first time in about a month I published a piece on Yahoo. It's a recipe I changed up a bit from a cookbook I've got and it is muy delicioso! You can also check it out on my food and recipe blog here.

Blogging

My most favored spot for writing lately has become this very blog. Much of what I used to write for Yahoo or Gather I am now publishing here. Just this past week or so I've written pieces about a possible Spice Girls comeback, a new ABBA song, their first in 18 years, Lady Gaga's latest single, and the latest flare-up between Elton John and Madonna.

Music is definitely the crux of this blog, but I also take pride in pieces I like to call 'social commentary.' I used to publish a lot of these types of pieces on Yahoo, too, but nowadays I find myself interspersing it here, between Songs of the Day, music news bytes, and my life. There were a couple I've written recently that I think would have been worthy for a Yahoo piece, but I tackled them in shorter order in the hopes of generating more views on John's World.

Three of these social commentary pieces I'd like to share here again. They include a food shopping rant, a commentary on today's generation, and a little piece about one of the many wrong things going on in our educational system. Check them out if you haven't already. As always, comments are always welcome.

More Blogging

In all, I've got four blogs registered here at Google Blogger. The first one I ever started was one called Rants, which I've abandoned in favor of this one. Then there's the food and recipe blog, one that I am hoping to build up a little, not so much as a regular thing, but something I can add to when a good recipe comes my way.

Johnny Driver

Finally, I've got the Misadventures of Johnny Driver blog. If you don't know it by now, Johnny Driver is a fictional character who works as a flower delivery guy in the Hamptons every summer. It's loosely based on a real job I used to have at a place called Pennington Flowers in Southampton.

I started writing the Johnny Driver series for the old Associated Content a couple of years ago and I penned over thirty 'episodes' spanning two summer seasons. The story lines are often humorous, sometimes shocking and always a little crazy, with a cast of equally strange and interesting characters based on real life people. The series earned me a lot of readers on AC and I moved them over to a blog, albeit in bits and pieces, so I can have the whole thing in one, easy to read spot.

Recently I decided to revisit the Johnny Driver series, and I'm planning on beginning a third season of episodes soon. In the meantime, though, I've gone back to the beginning to re-work some of the story lines to make them what I hope to be more readable and more enjoyable than before. It's been rough going so far, but I've got the first two chapters done and posted and am currently working on #3. Stay tuned for that, but in the meantime, check them out, as well as a note as to where I'm going with the series:

A Note From the Author of "Johnny Driver"

The Misadventures of Johnny Driver: A Prologue


Chapter 1: Johnny's First Day




Music, Movies & Gaming

Image Sources:

Yahoo Voices

NY Girl Eats World

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January 25th, 2012 - Writing Wednesday

It's Wednesday night again and it's time for Writing Wednesday. It looks as if I've only got Examiner articles to share with you this evening, as I'm still awaiting a Yahoo Voices piece to get published and Gather is now kaput, although maybe not for long..stay tuned... It's been two weeks since I've shared stuff I've written elsewhere here, so here goes...

Examiner

Here's what I've published on Examiner, in case you've missed it:



Concerts, Psychic Fairs, and Monster Trucks this weekend on Long Island


There's some cool stuff happening on Long Island this weekend, and sometimes I wish I could do them all, except maybe the Monster Trucks, lol.

6th Annual Outlook Awards Dinner exemplifies what's missing on Long Island


When I sat down Sunday morning to write about the Outlook Awards dinner on Saturday night, I had no idea where I was going to go with it, but I ended up coming back to an old argument.



Macy's Bay Shore finally coming into the 21st Century and the sales have begun

This was a happy one to write. As a longtime Macy's shopper, I am always torn which Macy's to visit when I plan a shopping trip. I've got two in my vicinity: the one in the Smithaven Mall in Lake Grove, which is big, modern and beautiful, or the one in the Westfield Mall in Bay Shore, which is closer to my house, but stuck in the 1960's in decor and ambiance. Well, they are going to be knocking down the Bay Shore store in order to build a new one and this writer/shopper couldn't be happier!

Well, that's all she, ur...he, wrote folks! As ever, I want to thank you for checking me out and stay tuned for the next Song of the Day coming in just a few hours....

Image Sources:

SFSTATION


Department Store Museum



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