Four Horsemen

Four Horsemen                           4877  (917)

Tuesday, June 27th, 2006-1:45 A.M.

Good morning and Happy Tuesday!  My weekend starts today!  I have a whole two days off before the big Ralph Tetta comedy tour rollercoaster takes off again, this week, to Providence, Rhode Island.  I'm looking forward to it, but tomorrow is just going to be a laundry day and lounging around with the family (or as much lounging as I can get away with).

Saturday, I finished my weekend with Jamie Lissow and Steve Burr at the Comix Cafe in Rochester, and my mom, fresh off the plane, was in attendance.  I had fun, but I haven't mc'ed in so long, it was like doing a stairmaster to keep running up on stage.  Three steps every 30-45 minutes....my heart was *pounding*!

Sunday, I piled mom and Pam and Harmony into the car, and we headed east to Syracuse to have a nice day off with my brother and his family.  The kids were great, and Amy put on a nice dinner...we had fresh fruit salad, and grilled chicken 'n' vegetables, and the time whisked by while I watched my niece Olivia take my daughter all around the backyard, playing on swings, playing with toys, and just generally letting her enjoy the company of a small person for a change.  It was really nice, but by the time we got back to Rochester, I was whupped.

This morning, after a fruitless attempt to get 7 hours of sleep or so, I settled for two 1 1/2 hour "naps" and got up at 6 A.M. to shower, dress, and pick up Steve Burr to go do a radio promotion of our show, "3 Things You Never Talk About."  We were guests on the Brother Wease show on 96.5 WCMF for about an hour, and they gave us ample time to explain what the show was, that it was a demo for Sirius Sattelite Radio, and that it was a talk show format, but that it would be funny.  We had about 125 folks out to the club tonight, and it turned out being a great experience.

The only problem on my end was that after doing the radio show, I volunteered to help Steve set up the sound system, stage, and run around replacing hardware that was sold under the false pretenses that it worked and was in good repair.  By the time we completed our task and I dropped Steve off, I was looking at another 1 1/2 hour nap before I had to get up and get cleaned up and dressed again.  I sucked down two cans of sugar-free Red Bull, and decided that was as close as I was going to get to my missing 6 hours of sleep.

Mom came along to see the show tonight, and it was actually very good despite some fears and reservations on the parts of our participants.  Joel Lindley, who I am working with this week in Rhode Island, didn't show until just a little bit before showtime, which caused some nerves and begged the question of which of the comics in attendance who came just to watch were going to be pressed into service.

Rich Aronovitch, the headliner this week, did a warm-up spot, along with Mike Glosek, one of the Comix Cafe's in-house comics, and we got rolling.  Steve was our host and moderator, and the panel included Mike "Pickle" Dambra, myself, Jamie Lissow and Joel Lindley.  We started things off with a discussion of politics, and we were too politcal but not funny right out of the gate, and the audience told us so.  Once we got our bearings, we started doing one-liners, taking audience questions and moving things along, and we got a good amount of laughs, many aimed at my ample girth.  You could say the laughter was at the expense of my expanse.  Ha Ha.  During the show, someone bought the panel a round of shots, and I chased mine with a beer...the first alcohol I've had in several months.  Needless to say, the alcohol loosened the screws at the back of my tongue, and I said some things that were funny but that I'm not proud of.  As long as it sounds good on the tape, I guess.  Also, Mark Wiedmann did a great job as the audience guy with the wireless mic, taking questions and being the butt of the "old" jokes just like I was the butt of the "fat" jokes.

Somewhere along the line, I think I'm going to have to get some sleep, but damn that Red Bull, it's making my eyelids twitch.

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY

Predictable

Predictable                               4855  (895)

Saturday, June 24th, 2006-2:00 P.M.

Good afternoon from the Flower City, Rochester, NY!  It's the first Saturday that I've slept in my own bed since I can remember...O.K., I'm over-romanticizing it...I worked Buffalo three weeks ago, and slept in my own bed every night, but work with me here; I usually don't.  We had two excellent shows last night at the Comix Cafe here in Rochester with headliner Jamie Lissow and headliner-turned feature for the week Steve Burr and myself ably and willingly filling out the m.c. spot.  I've mc'ed that club a thousand times if I've done it once, and I eased into it like an old suit.  Instead of trying to spritz the crowd and work the room, I just did a standard "opening" set both shows, did the announcements, and brought the other two guys on stage.  I laid out mostly new material, because my attitude was that after playing my home club so much, everyone's heard my core material five times or more.  I went mostly political, and it flew pretty well, and I even sold merchandise out of the m.c. spot...pretty much unheard of for me up until this weekend.

Jamie had a college gig to do between shows, which meant Steve and I had to stretch the second show a little until he got back, which was no problem...we both have headline sets of our own, and we padded it out with no discernible problems.  Unfortunately, when Jamie hit the stage, he drew a heckler who just started making "goat" noises, and uncharacteristically, the club did nothing about it.  Now, I'm not bragging, but back in the day when I was running the place, we would have had that guy holding his bloody lip in the parking lot if he did the goat thing twice, but last night, security seemed a little...absent.  Come to find out, one guy had the night off and there was only one manager on the floor, which explained the short-handedness, but the manager was MY bouncer when I was GM!  I guess I would have expected more, but I'm not going to speculate why nothing was done.  There were actually two managers working in the club last night, and both of them know their jobs, so maybe there was some other distraction that I didn't know about.  Still, the interruption left Jamie in a bad place, where he's being sabotaged during setups, and key points in his act, and when I came back into the showroom from the lounge, he was fed up enough where he told the guy he was about to kill him.  There were another group of loud rowdies in the back giving him the business as well, and it's only Jamie's savvy and experience from working the road, clubs and colleges that kept him balanced and allowed him to still finish  strong.  Jamie's a talented comic, and I feel bad for the folks who came to the late show to see him, because they didn't get the full benefit of his performance.  Friday late shows suck most everywhere you go.

Afterwards, Steve, Jamie and I hung out in the lounge and got to talking, just like old times, and V.J. Stanley, a student of mine, came in from his show in Buffalo and hung out for a bit.  Other Rochester comedy alumni Matt Rohr and Ryan Kemp stopped in to pay their respects, as well as former showroom manager (and my right arm) Natalie Gould.  It's always nice to see people I've had close relationships with, because as Natalie pointed out to me, we used to see each other every day, and then suddenly, BAM, nothing!  The road is a bitch inasmuch as that you only get to hang around with other comics, and usually comics you've never met before, and while that can be cool, it's only a band-aid to socialization.  Thank God I'm married, or I'd be constantly re-telling my backstory; Pamela is the only person I get to see on a regular basis, and she's heard all my stories twice (or more) so she knows where I'm coming from.

Speaking of Pamela, I got yelled at last night, too.  She's a crafter, and she had a show today in Syracuse, complete with a 7:30 A.M. departure time, and she was plenty mad that I didn't come right home after the second show.  Seems that Harmony was having a "cranky" night and wasn't getting to sleep,and she was wide awake when I got home at about 3 A.M.  I got her settled, playing Maisy blocks on the computer and reading to her on our brand-new sofa-bed that we had delivered yesterday, and by 4 or 4:30, she was out for the count.

Until about 10:30...then she started crying and howling at me.  I changed her and gave her some grits and cheese and a few chocolate cookies (her favorite), and then we watched a little Charlie and Lola (British import cartoon from the Disney Channel) and she drifted right back to sleep.  We're going in a couple of hours to pick up my mother from the airport; she's flying in from Florida and staying with us for a couple of weeks, and that should be fun.  Depending on if she's tired from the flight, she may come with me to the club tonight-she hasn't seen me work in about a year, and I'm sure she'll be glad that I've replaced a lot of the smut in my act with some political material, although she and my father could give a crap about such things, whereas I'm ready to start shooting politicians left and right everytime I read the paper.

Don't get me wrong...I support the troops.  They come to my shows and buy CD's and DVD's to take over to Iraq!

Have a great weekend!

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY     

Good Day Sunshine

Good Day Sunshine                      4810  (850)

Monday, June 19, 2006-1:15 P.M

My schedule would KILL you dead!

I'm home after an 18-hour jaunt across the United States, starting out in Sioux City, Iowa and ending in my driveway in Rochester, New York, only 1120 miles away.  I rolled in at 4:00 in the morning, and was as awake and alert as I was when I got in the car 18 hours previous.

Thursday night was the gig in Brookings, South Dakota.  The hotel was overrun with American Legion conventioneers; I never saw so many war wounds in my life.  They were a pleasant bunch, partying it up and trading war stories, and I stayed in my hotel room as not to get trapped in conversation with one of them.  Old people are nice in small doses, but they are the LaBrea Tar Pits of conversation.  The show was well-attended, and I did well, entertaining the mostly college-aged folks with a slower-paced show than I usually put on.  I like moving around and giving off the energy, but the portable stage was sort of unstable and I didn't feel comfortable moving around on it for fear the two segments would slide apart and I would do a fat-man split right down to the ground.

Friday, I had a radio interview in Sioux City, so I had to get peddling early.  I stopped for gas in a small town called Dell Rapids, South Dakota, and upon heading into town, I saw a billboard that said, "We Dakotans reject Animal Rights Organizations...Fur, Fish, Game and Livestock are our Economy!"

Now, I'm no animal rights activist...I definitely eat more than my share of the meat category, but my first response to this billboard was "if you can't treat animals humanely, then do something else for a living."  My second response was to locate the PETA sticker that my wife lovingly applied to the inside of my back windshield, and to peel it off and throw it away, lest I get my ass kicked in Dell Rapids, South Dakota, where such an event would never make the papers.  I don't fight much, but I think in a one-on-one confrontation, I could probably hold my own, but I'm not taking on a whole village of rednecks.

Friday night it rained so much, Sioux City actually set a record for rainfall.  Manhole covers were floating away because storm drains were full, and several roads were impassable.  Also,the Harley biker convention that was in town had a big shindig that was scheduled for the downtown area, and that got rained out.   I thought for sure that the event would mean doomsday for our show, but we drew 150, and they were great.  I got paid before I even hit the stage, and I had as good a set as I possibly could.  There was an improv group that opened the show, along with our mc, Mandi Macy from the rock station in town.  By the time I hit the stage, I was ready to go.  I did some mild Bush-bashing, which actually evoked pretty good laughter, leading me to believe that Iowa isn't as red a state as I had been led to believe. 

Saturday, things had cleared up, to the pleasure of the bikers, who had day 2 of their little festival to look forward to, and our show died on the vine.  We had no improv troupe to warm up, just Mandi, who is cute as a button but did no time to get the crowd revved up, and my first 10-15 minutes on stage reflected that.  I plowed forward with my act, but they just weren't buying it, so I switched gears and did some quasi-mc stuff, talking to a bacherlorette party and dove-tailing some material into the conversation.  By the time I finished, I felt I had done well, but I wished I could get that first 15 minutes back.  Ken Muller, the booking agent who hired me, showed up to say hello, shook my hand, and then headed out before I could talk to him at all, which I felt was unfortunate.  I couldn't tell if he like my set or not, but he seemed pleasant, and ultimately, I'll know if he did or not by his response when I ask for work again.

This week I had the dubious pleasure of running over two turtles and a prairie dog, and when I say "run over," I mean I aimed my car so the wheels went around them.  I didn't kill anything, but I did run over the remains of a dead dear on route 90 in Ohio that had been liquified by a truck.  I didn't even see it until it was too late, and it's a horrible feeling.  Luckily, it piss rained all the way through Cleveland, so hopefully it washed any venison tartare off the vehicle that I may have picked up.

It rained like Biblical hard twice coming home, once in Indiana and then in Ohio.  I felt like God Himself was telling me that I wasn't going to get home, that I should just pull the car over, put some stakes in the ground and start homesteading the divider between I-90 eastbound and westbound.  I chewed the same piece of gum for almost 300 miles, and burned through a pack and a half of Extra Sugar-Free Peppermint, and today, my jaws are sore.  That'll teach me to chew gum for 18 hours.

This week is a quiet one at home, and I'm mc'ing at my home club, the Comix Cafe.  Also, I'm doing a pilot episode for a new radio program called "3 Things You Never Talk About" on Monday.  It's a panel-type program with comedians discussing the issues of the day.  There's nothing I like more than warming the air with my opinions about the issues of the day.  If you're in Rochester and want to attend, you can get information at www.3ThingsYouNeverTalkAbout.com. It'll be a nice break in the action, and while the pay for the week isn't going to be a living wage, my expenses will be low because I'm home.  I spent $277 on gas this past road trip, paying anywheres from $2.66 to $2.99 a gallon.  Even with all that figured in, it was still a profitable week, and I can add the bragging rights that I've added another state to my list of "states performed in"-South Dakota.  And for the record, that makes 33 states total.

Missing Father's Day was a bummer, but I got a couple of nice Father's Day gifts that were waiting for me when I got home, including a beautiful book from my mother-in-law called "Why A Daughter Needs A Dad."  Maybe I was just tenderized from the long ride home, or whatever, but my guard was down and I read it in one sitting and cried and cried.  This week, I'm going to spend some high-quality daddy time with Harmony, and hopefully the weather will be nice so we can go to the park and play on the slides and swings.  Harmony is my constant reminder why I do all of the driving, striving and working that I do, and she's worth every minute (Mommy Pamela is worth it, too!).  I finished this week's tour alone with 3010 miles at the wheel.  Beat THAT, pal!

Have a great week, and I hope the sun shines on you!

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY

 

Winning

Winning                                                            4771  (801)

Thursday, June 15, 2006-11:25 P.M.      

Good morning from the great state of South Dakota, home of Crazy Horse, restrricted abortion rights, and the Down Under Comedy Club.  I'm on the second day of a five-day swing through the prairies of America, my third such trip this year.  I hit the road on Monday, after mowing the lawn, getting an oil change and knotting up all of the important work at the house (which of course, included big hugs and kisses for Harmony and Pamela).  I wound up getting on the road about 4 PM, which was later than I wanted to leave, but it worked out for the best.  Buffalo was an hour away, and I thought I might have problems with 5 o'clock traffic, but it was minimal at best, and I motored on west, hitting Chicago at 1 A.M.  I soldiered on through Rockford, Illinois, and up into Wisconsin, and crashed at the first Wisconsin rest area.

I slept for about three hours, and when I woke up, it was as cold as I've ever remembered for June.  It must have been 45 or 50 degrees, and I couldn't get hot coffee fast enough.  I had 500 miles to go to get to Walker, Minnesota, and a 7 o'clock show.  Even with the one-hour improvement moving from Eastern to Central time, I was going to have to pick 'em up and put 'em down at a pretty fair rate.  I made it to the hotel and grabbed a nap, only to be jolted awake by a call from the food and beverage director, making sure that I knew when showtime was.  I acted as coherent as I could, and went back to sleep.

The show was pretty good, it started out with a table full of asshole golfers who didn't know that the lounge was going to have comedy, and they excused themselves during the show rather than sticking around and having their conversation interrupt the show.  There was a table of three, some video poker players at the bar, and not a whole bunch else.  By the time I decided to just put the blade down and plow my way through the 35-minute set, a big group came in and sat down, and they were comic gold. There was a pregnant girl named Billie, and her boyfriend/father of the baby was there, a gent whose name escapes me (massive sleep deprivation eats my short-term memory).  Billie's friends volunteered that the young man didn't want to marry her, and we were off to the races.  I was able to spritz them, interspersed with my own material dove-tailing in, and the set flew by.  I was actually upset that I had to leave the stage of what had been a classic hell gig only 20 minutes ago.

Wednesday, I hit the road and headed south down through Fargo, North Dakota, and into South Dakota.  I drove almost six hours without seeing any manner of fast food restaurant, billboard, church, school or other sign of civilization.  The sparseness of it all is staggering for a city boy like myself, to drive for so many miles and just see nothing.  It explains the lack of diversity of opinion out here in the red states, there's no dissenting opinion because there's nobody to discuss anything with.  Not for me, brother.  Also, I don't relish the idea of knowing that the only groceries or hospital emergency room are 45 minutes away by helicopter.

The show last night couldn't have been better.  The crowd that I had worried about all day turned out in record numbers (the hotel had a convention of janitors, several of whom attended) and hung on my every word.  The owner of the hotel and his wife were very complimentary, and my report card back to the booker shoujld be pretty good.  I have a deep sense of urgency about report cards, because I used to fill them out when I managed the Comix Cafe, and I know how even a mediocre grade can hurt an act.  Giving a comic a "C" is almost like a death sentence...even though it technically means that the comic did a good enough job, you're basically telling a booking agent that he wasn't your cup of tea.  Comedy work is scarce enough that I feel I can't have any clubs saying that about me and jeapordizing my livelihood.  I sold a record amount of merchandise, the most since February, and that's nothing but a good thing, what with the expenses I've already incurred getting out here.

Today's a short drive down to Brookings, South Dakota, and hopefully I can preserve the momentum.  Headliner Bud Andersen has been a peach to work with, all a feature act could hope for in terms of friendliness, talent and polish.  We've been exchanging stories (and after 25 years in the business, he's got plenty of them) and I feel truly blessed that this tour has been shaping up the way it has.  Sometimes I feel I shouldn't worry so much, but without that tension to keep my moving, I'm afraid of growing complacent.

Have a good day, and stay out of the hot sun!

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY

Fool In The Rain

Fool In The Rain                  4715  (745)

Friday, June 9th, 2006-11:55 P.M.

I had a case of comedy deja vu tonight, the likes of which I've only had one other time.

I'm working tonight with headliner Steve Shaffer and mc Doug Karpf.  I've never worked with either of these guys before, but come to find out, I've seen Steve on TV several times before.  It didn't hit me until about 35 minutes into his set when he did a joke that I recognized, about being an Italian from South Philly, and having a friend who says things like "Steve, I got shot six inches away from my babalones."  The joke is talking about the testicles, and it always made me crack up, from all the way back when I was just a comedy-obsessed high school student staying up late and watching Evening At The Improv.

Steve is a top-notch comic and a classy guy, and I think I broke his balls when I asked permission to merchandise after the show.  He never heard of that before, the asking of permission, and when I told him that sometimes headliners tell me "no," he seemed shocked.  I told him that it was completely out of courtesy that I asked, and that I always conduct myself that way, and he was really stunned.  Anyway, he's a real professional and fun to watch, polished and sharp as a steak knife, and Doug is a funny comic as well.  I'm really pleased to be on the show this weekend, even though tomorrow, we're cut to one show instead of two.  That's gonna make my drive home a little bit easier, and to show you how classy club owner Scott Bruce is, the money is the same even though there's fewer shows....THAT'S a gentleman.

The show tonight was comprised of older folks, so I did a cleaner show, and it was fun.  After 18 years doing comedy (yup, it's officially been that long for me as of June 1st), sometimes I get tired of my material.  I did some new political stuff tonight (applause breaks), some core stuff, and a little riffing around with the good folks of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  I'm lucky to even be here tonight, to tell you the truth.

The drive down here, even though it was only a little shy of five hours, was one of the most harrowing drives I've had in a while.  The rain came furiously, and at least one time in New York and one time in Pennsylvania, it was coming so hard, my windshield wipers were useless.  Cars were pulling over, stopping under bridges and putting their hazard lights on, it was so bad.  I got turned around just leaving my own home town, and at one point, was leading a parade of emergency vehicles on their way to an accident where a car flipped over.  Even when I stopped for gas, the guy ahead of me at the station was 100 years old, no joke.  He was a Civil War Veteran, and he was trying to stuff Confederate money into the card reader on the pump.  I couldn't catch a break.

I'm getting ready for the big swing west on Monday, and looking forward to a real-live tour again.  These weekend rooms are o.k., but I either want to stay in one place for a week, or get moving right away after one show.  With a weekend room, you feel like a prisoner, just because there's nothing to do...at least with a string of one-nighters, you're obliged to get into the car and find your way to the new place.  Tomorrow, I have the prospect of being stuck in downtown Wilkes-Barre where there is a whole bunch of *nothing* happening.  And only one show to do!  It's almost like I can't even use the weekend to tune up my skills.

I know I take the prize for bitching, but I was named "Chronic Complainer" in my high school yearbook.  It just feels better to get it off my chest.  I still think I have the best job in the world.

Take care and have a nice, dry weekend.

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY

Further On Up The Road

Further On Up The Road                        4867  (717)

Tuesday, June 6, 2006-3:00 A.M. 

What a great week at the Comix Cafe in Buffalo, NY.  We had four shows, and while none of them were sold out, the energy was fantastic, and I had a great time working with Ward Anderson and Jeff Kooze.  For the first time in a long time, I really felt like the show "meshed" well...usually, I feel like the booking agents for the rooms I work pull three names out of a hat and stick us together, hoping the show will work out.

I wrote a lot of new political material, which is the direction I truly want to go, and instead of just bashing politicians, I'm actually getting to the crux of the issues, which I think people enjoy more.  I also let myself be loose and improvisational on stage, which works better from a headlining spot because there's more time, thus more "wiggle" room, and a feature spot you really have to watch the clock.  I still did fine, and I feel like I'm developing correctly, whereas the first ten years of my comedy existence, I never felt like I was going anywhere or improving.  The only thing that I improved was my confidence on stage, and while confidence is a good thing, the inability to think fast 'n' funny can just make you look like a cocky jerk.

The best part of the Buffalo week was that it was only a 70-mile drive up and back.  This week, I'm working Wilkes-Barre, PA for Wisecrackers, and I'm going to get spoiled with the short drives, but that's o.k., I have a nut-buster coming up the week after; 20 hours to Walker, Minnesota.  After that, it's a nice, easy summer except for a road trip to Florida, but that's broken up nicely into short drives down and back.  Routing is everything, kids...don't take it for granted!

Have a nice week, and don't forget the sunscreen.

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY

Cancel

Cancel                              4837  (687)

Friday, June 2, 2006-2:55 P.M.

Well, it's time for another installment of the Comedy Roadtrip blog, my window to the world to expose the day-to-day workings of a full-time comedian.

When I speak to non-comedians (and we call them all manner of names...non-coms, civilians, or my favorite, norms), the biggest misconception that I have to put to rest is that somehow, a circuit comic like myself, with no TV credits and whom they have never heard of before they've seen me perform, is somehow making bags of money.  I find this particularly annoying when I have to deal with someone that I'm about to do business with, like an auto repair shop.  If they knew the truth of the matter, they'd be less likely to squeeze a yacht payment out of me.

I've actually had a few inquiries as of late from comics who are part-time in the game as to what the actual economics of this full-time comedy career entails, and to put it bluntly, it ain't a pretty picture.  To the best of my knowledge, comedy pay hasn't changed since the mid 1980's, and in several situations, it's gone down.  Oh, don't get me wrong, there are a couple of bookers out there who have been able to squeeze an extra $25 out of their accounts to offset rising gas costs, but to say that the money is a living wage is to be fooling oneself.

The plight of the full-time comic is best described as a tenuous situation at best; case in point-this week, I was to work a show at Cucina Di Amore in Liverpool, NY, just outside of Syracuse, on Wednesday night.  This one-nighter that I was able to schedule, paid almost as well as a week of shows in Buffalo, NY, where I'm working at the Comix Cafe Thursday through Saturday.  I got a call, literally an hour before I was going to get into the car to head east to Liverpool, informing me that the show was canceled due to the great weather.  The club had no reservations, and therefore, the gig was off, and that's that.  No other explanation needed.

Now, there are no written contracts in comedy, outside of superstar performers who pay big dollar commissions to their management, publicists, etc.  Everything I generally do, outside of corporate work, is a phone call and a virtual handshake.  There is no unemployment insurance for the comic who's show is canceled due to good weather.  I might have a leg to stand on if I'd actually made the trip, I might have been able to haggle for partial payment, but in the long run, the brunt of the loss falls on me.

I'm not happy when a venue has to cancel a show, or puts one on to a small crowd, therein losing money.  I've worked the management side of the desk, and it's no fun knowing that you're taking a bath.  In that respect, I have empathy.  But it's also no fun as a performer seeing your pay for the week get cut virtually in half.  It's the nature of the business, and a tough pill to swallow sometimes.  The upside was that I got to spend a nice quiet evening with Pam and Harmony, having a family movie night courtesy of Blockbuster video.  Our selection was the 1986 classic "Crocodile Dundee," which amazingly, Pamela had never seen before.  I'd seen it dozens of times, and still enjoyed it.

Last night was the first night of a three-night engagement at the Comix Cafe in Buffalo, NY.  I'd played this particular stage more than a few times, and was excited to go back after an absence of over a year.  I'm working with Ward Anderson, a funny comic out of the Baltimore/D.C. area, who I worked with in Rochester a year or so ago.  We weren't expecting a big crowd, what with the Buffalo Sabres going to game 7 of their NHL playoff series with the Carolina Hurricanes.  They wound up losing 4-2, but put on a good effort.  Our show was decent, with about 50 people in attendance, about three times the folks I was expecting to show up.

It's been a weird week for weather...three days of heat up into the 90's, and then high humidity and pissy rain.  Luckily, I got the lawn cut before the showers.  We got a nice new mower Monday night, and this one has a bagger, which means minimal sweeping up afterwards.

So it's two more shows tonight and two more on Saturday, and then a nice, long week off until Friday when I travel down to Wilkes-Barre, PA, then a trail of tears out to Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa.  I'm expecting the weekend in Buffalo to be pretty good, and we'll certainly have fun with it.

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY