Tag: BEHS (Page 1 of 2)

Roger and Me

October 25, 2010 / Robert

I’ve known Roger since we were both 13 years old. We met in 1976 in Jim Gross’ Algebra 1 class when we were both freshmen at Bishop Egan High School. He wore a rust colored leisure suit. We shared many of the same classes that year: Fr. Terry’s Social Studies, Bro. Frank’s Religion, Mr. Manzo’s English. We both tried out for the Blue and Gray Day skit that year: Roger was cast as the Cowardly Lion, and I as Dorothy. We found that we had a common love of music, and that was enough to bind us together for the next 34 years. We would catch the bus to the Oxford Valley Mall, where we would cruise the Listening Booth and Wall to Wall Sound record shops. I remember one such trip when Roger bought Al Stewart’s Year of the Cat, and I bought Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life. We hung out together at the Friday night dances, and in the summer when the school year was over we’d hop on our 10 speeds and ride to the Mall, to buy more and more records. Roger bought Lynyrd Skynyrd’s One More For From the Road; I bought Leo Sayer’s Just a Boy. We shopped at Jeans West, where Roger helped me pick out the right style gauze shirt; sporting goods at Herman Brooks; lunches at McDonalds.

The following school year I attended Bucks County Technical School, and our shared classes ended, but our friendship endured. Still bound by our love of music, we explored more and more new albums, pushing and feeding off of each other. We both played under Coach Zaren on the BEHS inaugural soccer team, and we joined more clubs together, staying after school for more and more activities. I remember when Roger earned his learner’s permit, as he drove up to Steve Wolf and I gathering used skids to be used for our Spirit Week bonfire that November. At the end of the year, when Roger decided to run for Student Council as a sophomore (gasp!) I was there to help with his campaign, designing the flyers and hanging them along the hallways and stairwells. Roger did not win that election, but he did force a run-off. Pretty ballsy for an underclassmen.

Our friendship continued into our Junior year – still more dances, but we explored new territories as Roger earned his driver’s license and the road was ours. By the end of the year I was named as the Editor in Chief for our Senior yearbook, and I hand-picked Roger as my co-editor. We painted the yearbook office together, along with Tommy, our Associate Editor. We worked together to deliver a damn good yearbook, but we also discovered a lot about each other in the process. In June we graduated, and celebrated Senior Week, followed by our first Genesis concert at the Spectrum, together. Summer evenings we spent on the Mann Music Center lawn listening to JT, just before we headed off to La Salle College as roommates. On just our second night as college freshmen I was three sheets to the wind when, from the top bunk of our dorm room, I puked onto Roger in his bed below. I remember none of it, but he was there to make sure I got cleaned up. College was a bit of a trial – external and internal forces, combined with excessive alcohol, challenged us at times, but our friendship survived. When I received front-row center tickets to Bruce’s July 1981 Spectrum concert, it was Roger with whom I shared the extra ticket. One morning, at Penn State’s Phi Psi 500 weekend in April 1984 we nearly died laughing together over a runner’s leg that “wasn’t right.” We graduated college, but we remained together for ski vacations to Killington, and summer vacations to Myrtle Beach. I taught Roger how to drive a stick-shift on my old Tercel Wagon at Tyler State Park. He witnessed me at my drunken worst one New Year’s Eve, hovering over Neville and Donna’s toilet like a thirsty mutt. He’s also seen me at my best, as an usher on my wedding day, just as I had been for him barely 10 months earlier… I know I’m missing out on countless number of other times we’ve shared, but I think I’ve made my point: I can count my close friends on one hand, and Roger is usually number one.

Which brings us to today… Roger phoned me this evening on my drive home from work, to catch up but also to let me know of a personal crisis he’s going through. I’m not sure that I was able to convey my truest feelings of sorrow and sympathy while driving, but I do honestly hope that things work out for the best for him and his family – they are in my prayers, and I ask that they be in yours as well.

Graduations

June 6, 2010 / Robert

As we continue to trip down memory lane, today is the 30th anniversary of my Bishop Egan High School graduation… it was on a Friday evening, at St. Michael the Archangel Church, when my fellow graduates and I assembled for the last time as the Class of 1980. We wore our caps, our gowns, and our blue and gray hoods, and waited throughout the ceremony and Baccalaureate Mass until finally each of our names was called, and we rose in recognition of our newly earned alumni status. What began on a rainy morning in September 1976 drew to a close, never to open again. All of the structure and daily rituals with which we’d become so familiar, for many of us was now to be replaced with the much more loosely defined activities of college; some would seek immediate opportunities in the workplace, others would struggle to find their purpose and place in the world, while for some of us those distinctions were not so clear.

I’d carried a lot of baggage along the way; some of it had been useful stuff which offered me a source of inspiration and wisdom, while much of it had been dead weight, dragging me down and keeping me from moving forward. Sometimes, I am a slow learner; it took a long time for me to recognize when it was time to take action and cut loose the excess baggage, put my learnings and experiences to good use, and move on: to finally graduate.

There is no way that I ever imagined, as I write this now, the various directions my life has taken since that Friday evening; living in New Jersey for nearly 20 years, raising two great kids with a wonderful woman I met nearly 19 years ago, whom I never thought upon our initial meeting that I would marry, now nearly 12 years ago.

On a separate note, today also marks the 31st anniversary of the Bishop Conwell High School Class of 1979 Baccalaureate. I attended the Mass as a photographer for the yearbook, using Warren Stewart’s 35mm camera, and when I was finished taking pictures I had a hard time re-winding the film onto the spool, as I did not know that there was a button on the camera bottom to release the film. I ended up winding the film too tightly until it snapped inside the shutterbox; I tried to be careful and not expose the film by opening the camera and removing the film in a darkened closet when I got home, and I put the film back inside the plastic barrel and then inside the film box and taped it shut. The pictures I took that night have never seen the light of day, as that film has never been developed and still sits inside the container. I really should take it out for development, but after this much time I’d be very much surprised if any images were still on the film. I do remember taking a picture of a daisy that Susan had given me at Joe’s party on the night of June 2nd…

This Sunday, June 9th, will mark the BCHS Class of 1979 graduation; I was out on the front lawn cutting the grass on that Saturday morning when a car sped up my house, parked, and out jumped Susan to run over and give me an enormous hug of excitement. Later that night, her family hosted a graduation party at her house on Fairview Avenue; I wore my rainbow suspenders, and briefly met her Mom before heading to the backyard to hang out with Joe and some others whom I no longer remember. I vaguely recall Zsoka being there, and I think quite possibly I might have gotten a ride home with her; Jimi Hendrix was singing Hey Joe as Zsoka and I were leaving.

I rode my bike over to Susan’s house one or two times during the course of the summer, but by August, Susan and I were hardly speaking; she left for school at Davis and Elkins in West Virginia, and her house was sold out of her parents’ divorce. When I finally saw Susan again in December of 1979, she was living at the Village of Pennbrook apartments and there was no going back to Fairview Avenue again.

Lastly, today is also the 23rd wedding anniversary of my dear friends Tom and Nicole. They’re living in suburban Atlanta now for I think 14 years, and I don’t see them nearly as often as I’d like, i.e. maybe once/year if we’re lucky. We used to spend quite a bit of time together in the late 80’s and in the early 90’s when I first moved to New Jersey (they were living in Somerset back then) back before we were all married with kids. Their oldest now is preparing for her own graduation and college…

Dawn of the Dead

May 11, 2010 / Robert

Another memorable date, another Friday night, another week later… May 11, 1979. I had been granted permission to go out on the Friday night following the prior Friday night’s drunken debacle, and this time Roxy, Joe, and Susan stopped by my house to pick me up to head over to the Morrisville Drive-In to view George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead sequel, Dawn of the Dead. On the way there, we picked up Ed Wagner (this is where I believe I saw the rhododendrons in purple bloom somewhere along Pennsylvania Avenue.) To be honest, I don’t remember a lot about the night; I think it was a triple feature, and I do recall riding shotgun on the way there as well as during the movies. I vaguely remember visiting the snack bar, and probably the men’s room, and at one point I know I was sitting in the driver’s seat (I only have two words: tootsie pop) and before I knew it the movies were all done, it was nearly 2:00 AM, and I was in a whole new world of trouble. Not for being drunk or high, but rather just because it was so late. I ended up being grounded for the following Friday, and very nearly the Friday after that, but we’ll get to those dates soon enough.

Ordination

May 10, 2010 / Robert

Today is the 30th anniversary of Fr. Richard Davis’, T.O.R. ordination. Tom and I drove out to St. Francis College in Loretto on the evening of May 9th, slept overnight in the seminary, and the next morning attended the ordination Mass and ceremony for our BEHS teacher and friend. When I look back on various life decisions I’ve made, attending Fr. Richard’s ordination is one of the better ones, and each year on this date I pause to remember him and that very special day.

A few weeks later, Fr. Richard gave me a small present to celebrate my own special day, my graduation from BEHS. It is a Paula’s Impressions photograph, upon which is written the following:

I shall pass through this world but once

Any good therefore that I can do

Or any kindness that I can show

To any human being, let me do it now.

Let me not defer or neglect it.

For I shall not pass this way again.

I’ve managed to hold onto this gift for now nearly 30 years, still displayed on a shelf near my desk; I admit I often overlook this photograph in my daily activity, but every now and then it draws my attention, and I pause to think about those words and whether or not I have been true to them. It never fails to inspire me to be more aware of my actions, and the want to try harder.

The Whole Truth

May 4, 2010 / Robert

“How rich and rewarding our friendship might have been all these years if we hadn’t disconnected when we were younger.”

Well, here it is, another May 4th… another year after the year I was a junior in high school, finding myself another year further down the road, now 31 years on.

I pause each year at this time, to remember a particular evening in 1979, for what I consider to be a watershed moment in my life, the critical point in my life when I started along the path to become the person I am today. To that point, my existence had been sufficient to simply float along, still tied to the apron strings of my childhood. To be certain, I had started to explore beyond the familiar surroundings of my life sometime in the middle of the prior year, but to that date I had never dared myself to peck at the shell and crack open the egg, until that night.

So, what exactly happened? Interestingly enough, I’m not sure I remember; not necessarily because of the amount of time and brain cells lost between then and now, but rather because I was flat out drunk on the night in question and I can only remember bits and pieces. I do remember receiving my parents’ permission to go out on that Friday night, and Roxy driving her big ass car up to my house, with Joe and Susan along for the ride. We picked up Kenny, and then I rode shotgun as we headed over to Trenton. I recall the purple flowers of rhododendrons in bloom somewhere along Pennsylvania Avenue in Morrisville (or was that the following week, when we saw Dawn of The Dead at the Morrisville Drive-In?) It started to rain. We picked up some beer, somewhere; I sat in the car while side one of Born To Run played on the radio – it was all cool, we were in New Jersey. Susan told me she was from New Jersey… after a while we stopped for a bathroom break, Joe, Kenny and I pissing near the front of the car, and in my naiveté I wandered to the back of the car to ask the two squatting women if they had dropped something.

From there, things get murky. I recall kissing Roxy; I vaguely remember something about scraping a guardrail; eventually I exchanged places with Kenny and ended up in the back seat, drinking Tuborg Gold with Susan and Joe. I moved in and out of consciousness, and heard in the distance Joe repeatedly telling me to stop grabbing his crotch. We made it to somewhere, maybe Burlington, where we stopped in the parking lot while Roxy helped Susan deal with some bad medicine; the Rolling Stones You Can’t Always Get What You Want played on the radio; the most memorable part of the evening was when we ended up in Lahaska at Peddler’s Village, to use the facilities. I found Roxy in the men’s room, just as she had proceeded to leave lipstick covered lip prints all over the mirror. We walked back to her car, and I pulled up a clump of yellow flowers, roots and all, from one of the beds and presented them to her.

Somewhere between Lahaska and Levittown, I went down for the count. We arrived back at my parents’ house after what seemed like an eternity, but I believe it was only c. 11:30 PM. Joe walked me to the door and practically poured me across the threshold. I went to my room and passed out, only to be awakened by my concerned parents minutes later, worried that I was permanently brain damaged from the alcohol and whatever other chemicals were coursing through my bloodstream (maybe I was.)

So, what’s the big deal? I went out with some friends and got a bit plastered – maybe it was the first time, but it was certainly not the last. No, the big deal was that somehow, during the course of the night’s events, I came to identify something that sparked inside me to question the status quo, to embrace the new, to explore, to examine, to feel, to care, to love, and find out once and for all exactly who I am, what do I believe, and what is important to me.

Maybe it was all just coincidence, but I don’t think that it was; the friends I was with that evening were friends who encouraged me, who saw in me the potential, and believed in me. Out of the energy we shared, on that night and others, came the writer, artist, designer, reader, gardener, hiker, lover, husband and father that I am today.

Home Run, Jimi Hendrix

April 25, 2010 / Robert

or George Hendrick… whatever… read the entire game boxscore here

30 years ago tonight, Tommy and I opted to go to the Phillies-Cardinals game, instead of attending that night’s high school Senior Prom. For me, it was my first Phillies game at the Vet since 1974, but it was just the first of many, many games that Tommy and I would attend over the next 15 or so years; his family’s season tickets initially were in row 18 of section 232, but after the strike year of 1981 they moved up 5 rows to row 13, seats 10 and 11.

Those seats were magical, and looking back now it was such a privilege to sit so close to home plate for as many games for such a (relatively) low price as I did. Nowadays, in Citizens Bank Park, those seats would cost upwards of $100 apiece. We sat in those seats through many summer nights while we were in college; we were there in those seats at the snow-delayed Phillies home opener in 1982. Eventually, as we both grew older and Tom got married, I used to buy 10 or so games from his Mom, and used to take my future bride to the games. Our seats were directly under the radio booth, and during the 7th inning stretch we used to exchange waves with the late Richie Ashburn and Harry Kalas. I remember taking my Dad to one particular Saturday afternoon game, and on the way out we ran into Richie as he was leaving the stadium; my Dad, having remembered #1 from his playing days with the Whiz Kids, was duly impressed with his brush with baseball greatness.

Tommy and I sat in those seats for what may have been the last true double-header at the Vet, and witnessed the late Tug McGraw recite Casey at the Bat between games from the mound, and again in those seats on Mike Schmidt night when he retired from baseball. Edith and I sat there through rain delayed nights when we were practically the only fans there, and again on the nights we celebrated Richie’s and Schmidt’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Those seats were truly special, and played a huge part on making me the fan of the game that I am today, which I have passed down to my own son. Will and I have been to only 5 games at the new ballpark, and we’ll be there again on September 3, sitting in section 116, 6 rows behind the Phillies dugout down the first base side. Richie and Harry, and Tug, are now gone, but we continue to cheer for the Phils as we create our own memories.

Eagles vs. Redskins @ Lincoln Financial Field

November 29, 2009 / Robert

Thanks to Roger S., took in my very first Philadelphia Eagles game, and watched as the Eagles squeaked out a 27-24 victory over the Redskins.

The weather was awesome, a warm (upper 50’s is not too bad for the end of November) and sunny 1:00 PM afternoon game, and Roger’s season tickets in the end zone are pretty darn good. The picture over there was taken on an Eagles scoring drive with my BlackBerry Storm – click on the picture to see it full size, the resolution is not too bad.) I’ve attended my share of Penn State games in Happy Valley, Rutgers games in Piscataway, Temple games at the Vet, and even some old Philadelphia Stars games out at U of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field, but have always enjoyed college football more than pro games. I love watching Big Ten schools like PSU, Ohio State and Michigan, and the excitement of the college game atmosphere, and always thought of pro ball as too much of a big machine, but I have to admit I had a great time at the Eagles game. The fans in our section were all well behaved, and even getting in and out of the Linc was pretty easy. I would definitely go again if given the opportunity.

In a weird turn of events, Jay’s 8 year old daughter was competing in the NFL Pass, Punt and Kick competition team Championship, and was announced on-field before the start of the game. She did not advance to the National Final round of competition, but it was still pretty cool for us old friends to still be hanging out together after over 35 years, as our friend’s daughter is now old enough to play football drills at an Eagles game.

Time Stand Still

October 31, 2008 / Robert

Updated: A very small 15 second video of the boys performing Amore, as captured on my POS cell phone…

Photos (again from the same POS cell phone) are available in the Gallery…

[nggallery id=19]

So what if it’s been 25 years since Roger, Tommy and I together first saw them perform at City Gardens in Trenton on the night before Thanksgiving, 1983? So what if Tommy’s now living in Georgia and I’m quite a bit up the road in New Jersey? So what if we’re a bunch of middle aged guys, married with children and mortgages?

We are getting the band back together.

For the first time in a many a year (since maybe 1985?) we’ll be hanging out with our buddy Pierre for the Hooters show at The Electric Factory on November 26th.

An Eclectic Mix

May 9, 2008 / Robert

It’s funny how a song can bring you back to a time and place.

Ever since I stopped driving the 4Runner on my daily commute, I’ve missed my XM radio. I used to be able to listen to MLB on 175 each morning, or flip around through The Village, The Loft, Bluegrass Junction, Fine Tuning, Deep, Top and Big Tracks, or maybe pop a couple of .mp3 discs into the player and choose from a few hundred songs…. but no more. Beacuse the Matrix (sans XM radio, sans MP3/WMA player) gets about 10 mpg better gas mileage for the long ride to/from work, my listening selections have been greatly reduced, to NPR on WNYC and CBS News Radio 880. I hardly ever bother to pick out a CD for the ride before I leave the house in the morning.

This morning, however, I brought with me a home-made mix CD, upon which I had hand-written “an eclectic mix”. Since I hardly ever bother to actually write down the track information on any mix CD, I did not recall exactly what was on this disc until I loaded it into the car player. The first track, Thank U by Alanis Morissette didn’t jog my memory at all, but once the beginning strain of the second track started to play, I remembered the details of this CD: I had created it to play in the car on the ride to see Dar Williams at the Keswick Theaterback in early October 2001 with Jay McG.

Here’s the track list. Eclectic? You decide.

Alanis Morissette – Thank U
Big Head Todd and The Monsters – Bittersweet
Jill Sobule – I Kissed A Girl
Catie Curtis – What’s The Matter
Catie Curtis – Magnolia Street
The Story – So Much Mine
David Gray – Babylon
Julie Miller – I Still Cry
Natalie MacMaster – Get Me Through December
Poozies – Another Train
Peppino D’Agostino – Walk Away Renée
Rickie Lee Jones – Walk Away Renée
Rosanne Cash – Seventh Avenue
Rosanne Cash – The Wheel
Richard Thompson – 1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Sandy Denny and The Strawbs – Who Knows Where The Time Goes
Suzanne Vega – Left Of Center
Washington Squares – Can’t Stop The Rain

Politics Test, again

March 9, 2008 / Robert

OK, so my frend Jay visited WaltoWorld the other day, and took The Politics Test that I had blogged a while back. Turns out, he’s… a Republican! I always had my suspicions about him…

Anyway, it got me thinking, how would I test now, after a few years? Are my Democratic political leaning still the same? Turns out, I’m even MORE socially liberal than I was before! Has more time living in the warped world of George W. turned me toward socialism?

You are a
Social Liberal
(63% permissive)

and an…
Economic Liberal
(23% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Democrat
You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness. loc: (49, -100) modscore: (14, 38) raw: (1835)

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

Indian Sunset, Live at the BBC 1971

March 7, 2008 / Robert

…for my friend, Jay. The quality of this video is absolutely fantastic, plus it’s great to see the original 3 piece Elton John Band (with the late Dee Murray.) A whole bunch more of the Madman songs from this session are available on YouTube. Check out the link to my favorites over in the Blog Links on the right, for these and other classic videos…

clipped from www.youtube.com

Warren F. Stewart 1961-2007

November 29, 2007 / Robert

I met Warren in the Spring of 1978, when I was a sophomore at Bishop Egan High School, in the old Torvian yearbook office. At that time, I had been involved in the Drama Club, CSC, and a few other clubs, but I was just a 15 year old kid with no particular ambitions, flying under the radar of the attention received by the more popular and well-known kids.

Warren, along with Marty Bergen, had just been named as Editor-in-Chief of the 1979 yearbook, and was prepping the office for its takeover by the new administration; my sophomore classmate, Joe, introduced me to Warren, and right away I could tell that Warren was not your typical high-school student. He was amazingly worldly and intelligent, and possessed an incredibly sharp and acerbic wit.

It should be mentioned that I was a “techie” – a student who attended both BEHS and Bucks County Technical School across the street. At that time, the stereotypical profile of a “techie” was of burn-out of below average smarts, of someone facing a future in the trades and making a living with their hands, and someone certainly not capable of gaining admission to a 4-year college. Upon learning that I was a “techie”, at first Warren believed that I must meet that profile, but as I spent more and more time in that Torvian office with Warren, he was able to see that I was not your typical “techie”, and he grew to appreciate my own worldliness, intelligence and wit. Although Warren used to joke with me many times about my being a “techie”, he also inspired me to go beyond the “techie” stereotype, to become a valuable contributor not just to the yearbook but to life at BEHS as well.

In the Fall of 1978, Warren named me as the Art Editor (and pet “techie”) for the 1979 yearbook; I worked closely with Warren to help deliver a quality yearbook (those are my Egan eagle drawings at the beginning of the different sections of the yearbook…) and I was eventually nominated in the Spring of 1979 by Warren to serve as the Editor-in-Chief of 1980 Torvian. Thanks to Warren’s ability to see past the “techie” stereotype, I was able to co-chief, with my friend Roger, the 1980 Torvian. I even took over Warren’s job at the Bucks County Free Library when he left for school at Penn in September 1979. I eventually graduated from LaSalle University in 1984 with a degree in Computer Science.

I learned so much from Warren, whether it was joining him in a protest after Spirit Day 1979 outside of the Courier Times offices on Route 13 after a scathing article was written about rampant drug use at BEHS, or journeying to Valley Forge Military Academy to better our journalism skills at the annual Press Day, or even attending an Elvis Costello concert at the Tower Theater on a Saturday night with Warren, Joe, Ed, Gina, Susan and a mob of other friends. It is strange to imagine, but I can say with certainty that my own life would have turned out very differently had I never met Warren Stewart.

The last time I saw Warren was in the summer of 1981. Jbubs moved away with his family to Chicago in the summer of 1979 (at one going-away party for Joe, Warren let me wear his gila-monster costume, as seen in the top right photo on page 86 of the 1978 Torvian) but had returned to visit two years later, and we paid a surprise visit to Warren at his family home in Thornridge. We sat with his Dad on his living room couch watching ‘Jeopardy’ on the television, but before long we had to leave. I’ve thought about Warren many times since those BEHS days, and often wondered where his life took him. Now I know, and I wish we had remained in touch. I am truly saddened to learn of Warren’s health struggles and untimely death, and I’m now finding myself thinking about his memory and missing him more than ever. My prayers go out to Warren’s family and friends.

Warren’s Grave Site
A Warren Memorial Blog
A Warren Photo Album

Jon Mullane’s column in The Courier Times