bag pipes for Friday (video)

The Providence Journal did a nice piece on the Providence Police Pipes and Drum




They played a military medley recently and that video is here

bird house view of State House

Dolores and I visited Aunt Helen who is in rehab at Hallworth House in Providence. We took her for a walk to get some fresh air after lunch. Those of us in New England were enjoying a gorgeous day. Cloud dotted, bright blue skies, with a comfortable temp and a gentle breeze.

Sitting on a bench in the sun, you could see from the bird house to the State House. The public address announcer for the CVS 5K road race could be heard in the distance. The weather was perfect for that kind of outdoor exercise.  The Hallworth House has a nice terrace view of the city.

Aunt Helen was in good spirits and walked well along the terrace and to/from her room. We had a good visit.

PC Friars

Dad and his brothers used to have season tickets for the Providence College Friar basketball games. As the season ticket prices increased, including a charge "for the privilege of being a season ticket holder", they stopped. Now with two of his brothers passing on, I try to take Dad to a couple of games. We didn't get to go last year due to Dad's health problems but he can get around well enough now. We saw the Friars play West Virginia Wednesday evening.

Technically the first half was a basketball game but I am not sure what PC was doing. There was a passive attempt at defense and no cohesion on offence at all as they found themselves down by 20 at the half.

The second half was slightly different as their full court pressure defense actually was active and caught West Virginia by surprise. They ended up quickly cutting the margin to 10 scoring on defensive turnovers. Their offense continued to be non-functional from a team-perspective. They would come down, make one pass and the player would go one-on-one. If they got in trouble, they would look to make a desperation pass, otherwise, the other four stood around waiting to see what would happen. Occasionally, the player would get fouled. More often than not, he'd miss, WV would get the rebound and with four or five passes get an easy score. The deficit got to just six points twice during the second half but each time WV got its act together and pulled away.

The Friars were at a size disadvantage but didn't play like a team at all to compensate. We are due to return for another game later this season. I wonder what we'll see then.

There is too much hoopla around the Friars glory days. I realize that college basketball is now an event and not just a game. This team did not play anything like its predecessors and the hoopla was embarrassing.

Scenes from Providence, RI

The weather was hot in Providence when I was walking around taking these photos.



I hope you enjoy!

East Bay Bike Path

Providence skyline at the North end of the bike way. 11 miles to go back, originally uploaded by shersteve.

The Providence skyline at the North end of the bike way. 12 miles to go back to the van at Colt St Park in Bristol.

Would have liked to have started at the North End and saved the drive down to Bristol. Will need to do more research next time to find some rest rooms at the North end. The Colt St Park facilities worked nicely.

Hold the date - NewBCamp - April 19th

Yes, the next one is rapidly approaching.

Hold the date for April 19th for the next NewBCamp to be held at Providence College


BTW - this is an update, the original hold the date notice was the 5th. That has been changed.

English quiz

From the Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show flier comes the following introductory passage. See if you can find your way to the grammatical mistake:

Pack your passports, bags, cameras and binoculars. Get ready to discover a side of nature you've never seen before, at the 16th Annual Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show. "Gardens of the World" is the Show's theme, which takes you on a journey through distant and exotic places. You show "passport" transports you through 30 gardens and an expedition to the Australia Outback, over to Mexico and South America with Mayan and Incan ruins, and into Tuscany, Spain and more. Don't miss your ticket to a horticultural melting pot that brings adventure, warmth and beauty, all with a promise of spring.

Several people must have missed that. Did you find it?


Hint: They did fix it on the web site but many pamphlets were printed incorrectly.

RI Flower Show

Dolores and I took in the RI Flower Show down in Providence at the Convention Center. There were good exhibits but not as many flowers as we thought we might see. The vendor section of the main floor vendors seemed to occupy more space than the flower exhibits.

Oddly, a sand sculpture, depicting scenes from Egypt was the best of show for me. I have loved making sand castles and these guys were beyond anything I had ever done.




The flower show is open on Sunday (2/21/09). If you get to go, let me know what you thought was the best of the show.

Enjoy!

Time zone

I took my father to the Veteran's Hospital in Providence for his annual check up recently. I was pleasantly surprised by the overall experience having heard some weird stories beforehand.

The reception was pleasant and efficient. Dad had not yet received his VA card so we were directed to an office to get one. We waited a few minutes out the office for the woman to finish with the person she was working with.

When we entered the office, I noticed the daily calendar over her desk was still showing that the day was Friday, November 7th. (Yes, we were there several days later).

As I checked the clock on the wall, it was also one hour later than it should have been. I guess it had not been set back for Daylight Savings (now 2 weekends prior).

Fortunately, these were the only two oddities. The remainder of the visit was efficient and well done.

College hoopla

Took my father to the Providence College game on Tuesday evening against West Virgina. A tight game. The Friars were down 6 at the half. West Virginia was 18-1 when leading at the half. The picture shows a WV player at the free throw line. 9.1 seconds on the clock PC leading 62-60. He made the first, missed the second but WV got the rebound and the ball. Ended up turning it over, PC worked the ball against the press to ultimately score an easy layup to finish 64-61.

Dad enjoyed the game. He is a long time Friar fan and for many years had season tickets with his brothers. Any home game, the Sherlock brothers could be counted on to be there. Two have now passed away. To get to a game is more of a treat now. Twice this month we went, both times we saw them win a close one. The previous game, the Friars were down 6 with a minute to go and won by a point at the buzzer. As we were leaving Tuesday night, Dad said that they should start paying us to go since the two times we have been there they have won. Not a bad idea.

Go Friars!