Elton John - The Greatest Discovery ('70 LIVE at BBC studios

One of my favorite pastimes is to dig through some of the 4 million cds I bought as a teenager and look for what feels like songs lost from home.

Today I found my old copy of "Elton John", the self-titled album that I bought at Rietta Ranch Flea Market when I was like 8 years old.

As an adult I have returned to the album several times. I have been increasingly surprised by the emotional and lyrical depth of this album. As far as Elton goes it is definetely a wealth of underrated gems. I think with some of his more recent silly behavior, it is easy to forget sometimes just how much he has contributed to modern music.

Above consider this great video of Elton from the BBC Studios in 1970 singing one of the great cuts from the album "The Greatest Discovery." Elton wrote this song when he was just 17!

That's a glacial pothole you have there.

Our recent attempt to become more familiar with the many towns in the Valley and along the Mowhawk trail led us to the wonderful home of Dr. William Cosby, Shelburne Falls. And while we are saving our stalking of his house for next time, we did catch a glimpse of the folksy community everyone is always talking about.

Our journey began at the Bridge of Flowers, a famous abandoned former trolley bridge that is now used to house more than 500 varieties of flowers! And better yet, the beautiful display is tended to by the Shelburne Falls Womens Club. It is this sort of community out here that brings a smile to my face every day.

Above: A plaque outside of the bridge thanks those who donated to the restoration in 1983-1984.

Above: Chris and I entering the green bridge. It's difficult to find space to get a photo of the larger bridge.

Above: View of the traffic bridge from the bridge of flowers.

Above: One of the hundreds of beautiful flowers. I could only imagine what this place looks like in July.

On to the next stop. Now, in New Hampshire I have visit stone quarries for pothole swimming, but I had never been to the glacial potholes of Shelburne Falls. I have to say I wasn't expecting something as awesome as what we discovered.

Just a couple of hundred of feet away from the bridge of flowers, an eerie wooden sign is posted on the side of an old brick building in downtown Shelburne Falls. The sign prepares visitors for the natural wonder you are about to see just 400 feet away.

Above: From our first views of the Glacial Potholes, we realized how amazing it was that we had not yet been to this cool spot just 20 minutes away.

Above: This more calm water looked great for swimming. There were some people enjoying it already while were there.

Above:This rock rocked.

Above: The water falls were very tranquil. This would be an amazing place to read.

Above: Ah, natural foot massage.

Above: The land of a thousand cool potholes.

Above: The waterfalls were nuts. Every once and a while they let the gates above go and a flood of water rushes down ever harder than this.

Above: Tranquility at its best.

Above: Pensive Chris.

Above: Chris is a weekend geologist.

Above: Toots on the rocks.

Following our exploration of the glacial potholes, we checked out a couple more Shelburne Falls spots before heading home including:

Yoga

Handful.

Fudge Factory

Wine bar.

Conclusion: Shelburne Falls was a pretty cool place. We will definitely return. Stay tuned for future bloggin's y'all.

Sara Gilman + Tom Stark = Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Stark

So, last year Chris' bestest bff in the entire world, Sara Gilman, told us that she planned to marry her prince charming, Tom Stark. We, of course, were psyched and couldn't wait for their special day. The calender quickly made it's way to May 18th, 2008, and the wedding was here. Chris was in the ceremony, so we went home for a few days for the big event. Now I would spend several paragraphs bragging about just how beautiful Sara looked, and how amazing the whole wedding was, and how perfect everything was, buuuuuut, I just happen to have a whole treasure trove full of photos and video of what could have been the best wedding ever!

Above: It was 9 a.m. and Sara was this chipper. My hunch is that she was happy to be getting married.

Above: We brought alcohol just in case there were any wedding day nerves. The girls drank mimosas and got their hair did at the bride's parents' house.

Above: Unfortunately, the Maid of Honor, Bess, was feeling under the weather. She used this Sausage, Egg and Cheese as an attempt to recuperate. Usually there isn't much throwing up on a wedding day until a couple of hours into the reception.... There are always exceptions.

Above: She was applying some of the glow that she seemed to be wearing all day.

Above: Sara did not share her glow with Chris.

Above: She did however let him get his hair did.

Above: It was like the movie "Beauty Shop", only sans Queen Latifah.

Above: Still trying to avoid a reputation as "the girl who spewed during the wedding," Bess alternates between Pepto and getting her hair did.

Above: While the girls seemed completely at ease, the boys were a nervous wreck across town.

Above: Tom and Sara's brother, Matt Gilman, gained liquid courage with a couple of shots of peppermint schnapps outside just moments before the big ceremony.

Above: The beautiful view outside the church.

Above:The beautiful view inside the church.

Above: My two dates, 'Topher and Gina PP.

Above; The maid of honor makes her way down the aisle, luckily without an upset stomach.

Above: Tom knows he is a very lucky man.

Above: The Mother of the bride looking as stunning as her daughter.




Then, better than anything I have ever seen on an episode of Sweet 16, Sara made her grand entrance. CAUTION: Video may induce tears... Also, I filmed the last minute sideways like an idiot.

Above: This was around the time that everyone at the church seemed to get something in their eyes all at once. Weird.

Above: There is always much kneeling and alleluia involved at Catholic weddings. And now for some highlights of the ceremony.

Above: This was pretty much the reaction after the beautiful ceremony.

Above: A view of the new husband and wife as they prepare to walk into the reception.

Above: Sarah Getting busseled and buzzed before her grand entrance.

Above: Tom appears to be slightly buzzeled himself.

Above: Controversial prom dates, Chris and Matt Gilman.

Above: "Awwww!"

Above: The first dance.

Above: Ironically we spotted these outside the reception. A mommy, daddy and...... baby duckies?

Above: Looking so in love as they dance to their wedding song "Autumn Wind" by Kelliana.

Above: "I don't see nothin' wrong wit' a little bump 'n' grind."

Above: Chris and some drunk tan girls we found in the parking lot.

Above: Next?

Above: This is after about 5 drinks and a lot of embarrassing dancing.

Above: To cap of the night Sara took the stage for a three-song set of karaoke that included "Since You've Been Gone," "Before He Cheats," and "Toxic."

Finally, Your moment of zen, a video of Sara Gilman singing Britney Spears' toxic in her wedding dress to end the night. Enjoy!

Mamma Mia

For the majority of the real Mother's Day 2008, I was working at the wonderfully delicious fine-dining restaurant the Blue Heron (You should go it's AMAZING So, in an effort to be a good son and not disappoint the only woman that will ever give birth to me, I arranged for an afternoon with mom shortly after mom's day.

In photos, here are some of the exciting moments of mom, me, and the Amber. Cameron was in school... Muhahaha.



Mom arrives stylin' and profilin' in her new Japanese Sports Urtooshortforthis Vehicle. Amber is in tow singing the Dora the Explorer theme song and eating mango.



Above note both baby, mango, and f'yers as she likes to call them (flowers).



Above: We all climbed Mount Sugarloaf to take a look from the top. After my mom stopped nervously peeing herself at the great heights, we all really enjoyed the view from the top.




Amber and I stopped for a moment to pick some f'yers.




Above: Sunderland Law Enforcement.





Above: In my family, no Mother's Day would be complete without buying some sort of bench, antique farm animal, or ethnic wooden doll.

Bad Blogger

Ok, so I wanted to announce that in my first attempt at regular blogging, I have failed. I was trying to make sure that at least once a week I checked in with the Dear Diary, but I just got too busy again. It's often difficult to find extra-curricular time aside from bringing sexy back. Alas, don't cry, in the following posts I will catch you up with everything that has been going on in my life.... Stay Tuned.

Yoko Oh No Oh No Oh No!

A great Boston Globe writer, John Saltzman, posted a news update on Boston.com last week that doesn't seem to be getting as much coverage as I thought.

Saltzman covered the story of a Massachusetts company suing Yoko Ono over 10 hours of documentary footage of Ono and John Lennon during the 11th hour of the Beatles career. The suit stems from Ono blocking the documentary "3 Days in the Life," from airing at a private school in Maine.

According to Saltzman, who by the sound of the article has seen the footage, Lennon smokes marijuana in the film and talks about spiking Richard Nixon's tea with LSD.

Now, i don't think Yoko is perfect, but I have never considered her to be the evil shrieking seductress that many Beatles fans make her out to be. The way I see it, John Lennon fell in love with her and for his love for her to be so powerful it Trumped the success and legacy of the Beatles, she must have been worth it. However, I have always thought that she has been wrong for trying to hide some of Lennon's legacy. It's one thing to try your best to help the memory of your husband to live on, but it is an entirely different story to stop his fans from enjoying the only "new" Lennon images they will ever have again.

With that being said. I want to take it on home with this fantabulous footage of Yoko.