To celebrate my youngest cousin’s high school graduation, Yeni and I headed to Albany to join the celebration. Instead of flying, we packed very lightly and took the Harley 650 miles east from Ann Arbor to Albany, mostly following I-90 (we were going to go through Canada, but that’s a different story).

The trip to Albany was amazing and covered parts of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Cities included Toledo, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany. Normally, when traveling on the Interstate, you really don’t get to see much, and with this trip, we set that as our expectation. Gladly, we were wrong. I had never been West of Albany (yes, I’m one of those type of New Yorker’s) and the scenery simply amazed us. From the rolling hills and mountains to the lakes and rivers, the trip east absolutely provided some great views of the country.

While in Albany, Yeni and I enjoyed great food, great company, and a great time. The weather was slightly more wet than we had hoped, but being surrounded by family is like having a sunny day regardless of weather.

The trip home allowed Yeni to experience riding the Harley through some heavy rain. When we hit the Cleveland area, the sun came out and we enjoyed great weather until we reached the Ohio turnpike — where a very strong wind decided to throw us around until we made it home. Despite the rain and heavy wind, the ride was great and we’re looking forward to the next one.

Total miles: 1302

Conga Time!

Welcome friends to 2009. Last night Yeni’s family and I went to Michael’s and were surrounded by family to enjoy the New Year’s Celebration. Last year, I was in New York City’s Times Square watching the ball drop after eating an amazing feast at Peter Luger Steakhouse in Brooklyn. Wow, that was an amazing meal…

This year was more of a somber tone and I was very fortunate to be surrounded by family. I drank (a little too much) bourbon, ate 12 grapes, participated in an impromptu New Year’s conga, and ate a really good Cookie Cake.

Traditionally, people make New Year’s Resolutions and this year, I’ve decided not to. Did you know that roughly only 12% of New Year’s Resolutions are achieved? Most popular resolutions?

• Lose Weight
• Save Money
• Get a Better Job
• Get in Shape
• Quit Smoking
• Drink Less
• Reduce Stress

So instead of making a half-assed New Year’s goal, I’m just going to be happy. Think of it as an extended Thanksgiving mood… and I’m just going to be thankful for the friends and family in my life, cherish the good times from the last year, learn from the bad ones, and remember those who left us in 2008.

Happy New Year, Happy Birthday Orlando and Ryan, and Go Gators.

Uno! Ok – I can think of no better way to start this post than with a movie quote. After all, this is the Fred Posner blog, isn’t it? Ok, maybe it would be better if I gave the full Inigo Montoya quote but nonetheless, Buttercup is marrying Humperdink in a little less than half an hour.

New York City

After spending the weekend in Oregon with my family, Yeni and I joined my parents and cousins in New York City for a great weekend. Yeni had never visited New York before, and we tried to shove as much touristy goodness in 48 hours as could be humanly possible. What did we do? We went to Times Square, rode the Subways, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, checked out the Statue of Liberty, whispered in Grand Central Station, walked all through Central Park, saw a Squirrel-Rat, visited Lincoln Center, the Museum of Natural History, and shared an ice cream in Brooklyn Heights.

Not shabby, huh? We snapped a lot of pictures, and have them posted at my Picasa page. The weekend it self was amazing. The trip home sucked. Let me sum it up in three words: US Airways Sucks. How much do they suck? The enormity of their suckitude is beyond all knows means of measure. Comparable to a black hole, they simply do not allow any intelligent thought to escape.

Scheduled to fly from Newark to Gainesville, Yeni and I took a cab from Carnegie Hall through the Lincoln Tunnel and into Jersey. All was well until we parted ways and I headed to my gate. All of the gate displays for US Airways were down and periodic announcements informed passengers of flight status. My flight was delayed; but we were told that there was no reason to worry and I’d make my connection. Well, they lied. Two hours after my flight was scheduled to fly, they cancelled it. And since it was now after 6pm, all remaining flights were booked. I was stuck in Newark and even worse… they weren’t helping me schedule a new flight. I had to grab a hotel and well… made it home 36 hours later. (The cheaper flight from Newark ended up being not so cheap) Long story short? US Airways sucks and I’ll gladly pay more to use another airline.

July 4th Weekend

I’ve always dreamed of taking the Harley on a long ride. My two dream rides are still the 48 states in 48 days ride and the Forrest Run. For the Forrest run, I want to pack up Forrest with me and drive from one ocean to the other… turn around… ride to the ocean again… and then repeat until done. The 48 states run will be at least one meal in the 48 continental states. Anyway, I digress…

So, the lease on the Ann Arbor apartment started in early July. I of course wanted to be there to help and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to put some more miles on the bike. For the first time in 8 years, I put in for vacation time, packed up the bike, and headed on the road.

The trip should have been around 1000 miles. My good friends Patrick and Jessi live in Chattanooga, Tennesse – which ended up being just under half way. So the plan was to go to Chattanooga, eat dinner, spend the night, and continue on in the morning. Once I hit north of Atlanta, I could make out Blue mountain peaks in the distance and my heart just started beating a little harder. It was absolutely beautiful. The hills were so colorful, the road smelled like an air freshener, and I had to slow down just to take it all in. Just riding to Patrick’s house on the windy inclined road was amazing. The country was so beautiful that I added an hour to my trip taking the scenic route back to the highway.

From Chattanooga, I headed north and rode through some incredible mountain views. On some of the climbs the road would wind near some cliffs, and the views from the drop offs were just gorgeous. A smarter man would have packed the camera in a better place – but then again, just taking it in on the bike was more than satisfying. On some of the descents through the mountains, your ears would actually pop.

The ride was some of the most incredible scenery I’ve seen and the ride was phenomenal – until I hit Ohio. Cincinnati provided me a “back to reality” moment with traffic reminiscent of Miami or Manhattan. After taking 2 hours to go 30 miles, I took the first exit and didn’t choose wisely. I was unable to get back to the highway and the gas station / check cashing store was less than desirable. I started heading down a side road and within a few miles another Road King appeared in front of me.

At the next light I pulled up next to him and asked if I was headed to the highway.

“Where ya headed?” he asked.
“I’m going to Ann Arbor, Michigan.”
His old lady said “Hell, we’re going to Michigan, too. But we’re going to skip the highway until we’re way north of the cities.”
I smiled. “Ride together?”
“Sure, ya ever see Dayton?”
“Nope.”

They smiled and we were off. It was awesome. We took some really scenic routes and rode through the Dayton 4th of July festivities. Apparently they have been working to bring new life into downtown Dayton and it was really nice. Fountains on the River, lots of action on the riverfront, and just a great little run. In about an hour, we were at the highway, clear of all that city traffic, and the rest of the ride to Ann Arbor was smooth sailing.

I got to Michael’s house a few hours later than I wanted, but the kids were still up and Christopher was more than happy to see Uncle Fred’s motorcycle. The next day we had a great barbeque, and I couldn’t have imagined a better way of celebrating Independence Day.

Ann Arbor

So on the 5th of July, Yeni and I drove to the condo and started figuring out all the things we needed. We made a list, checked it twice, and then ended up with a 4 and a half foot long Ikea receipt. Ouch.

But the apartment is great. Lots of natural light, a one car garage, and some nice views of the clubhouse/pool. The furniture we picked out took a few days to arrive, but that gave us time to build the furniture we bought from Ikea. We’ve got a new TV, a nice couch, and as soon as my Gainesville house sells, I’ll be there full-time. I’m very excited about it.

Oh, and the next ride?

Yeni and I are planning to ride through Canada and visit Niagra Falls.

Happy New Year…. from New York City.

My sister (Hi) used the word “vacillate” today. I kind of picked up on the context but actually had to look up the definition (it means to sway from one side to the other). Which of course started me thinking…

And as I wait for huge files to transfer I have more than enough time to think…

I never really enjoyed vocabulary. Sure there were words here and there that “intrigued” me (legerdemain stands out for some reason)– but I’ve always seemed to speak or write in a conversation style. Hell, most words that I speak are variations of just 1 word. My favorite word… which of course is the F word.

Speaking of words that start with F, I received a great package from Kathy and Guillo today… a case of Fred water. This water is from New York and although it tastes good, my favorite part (besides the name) has to be the flask shaped bottle. You can stack your water, slide it in your car door, put it in your saddle bag, or anything.

Not since the final Star Wars film or perhaps even Spider-man had I been this excited to see a film. For the entire day, the thought of seeing Superman Returns has kept me in a great mood. Maybe it was too great of expectations, or perhaps it was an amazingly high pedestal that I could never allow a movie to reach; but in the end it comes down to one thing. I didn’t love Superman Returns.

Don’t get me wrong, here. I liked it. And when I break it down, I have to wonder why I didn’t love the movie. I thought Kevin Spacey was awesome-simply awesome. I thought that this movie had the best Lois Lane ever. Superman himself looked and felt like what Superman should be. The acting was great; the humor was there, but in the end… I just didn’t love this movie.

The first time I saw Superman on the big screen was with my mom in 1978. Even though I was a young boy, the movie so amazed me that I still vividly remember watching the film in the theater. I can recall the feeling I had when the toddler Clark lifted the Kent’s truck and smiled… or when Clark caught the bullet from the mugging… or even watching Superman return the little girl’s cat from the tree (and the smack afterwards). To me, Superman was real. This wasn’t special effects; this was the real adventures of a Superhero caught on film.

In almost 20 years of time, we’ve seen an amazing amount of movie magic. Thin about it… when they made Superman in ’78, there were no blue screens to help Superman fly. So, when Superman Returns debuted tonight I expected magic. I expected to feel the same way I had all those years ago in a small New York movie theater. And even with the great performances, I came away with the feeling that I just didn’t love this movie.

Am I being too hard? I don’t know. Spider-man is my favorite super-hero of all time. And when Tobey Maguire put on the Spidey suit I had enormous expectations– Huge, Colossal, Gigantic expectations. Even knowing that one of my favorite aspects of the hero had been changed (his web shooting), I still had almost entered the movie theater as if with a dare… in a way daring this new Spider-man to impress me. I walked out of the theater with the biggest smile on my face and saw the movie two more times that same weekend. This film took my dare and shoved it in my face. The movie not only lived up to my expectations; it surpassed them.

I expected nothing less from Superman. Was it a good film? Sure. But, I thought some of the coolest new effects of the movie I had already seen in the trailer (Superman being shot, etc.). And even though the performances were great, my favorite part of the movie was a trailer… and that trailer is for Spider-man 3.

How good is Rescue Me? How good? I can’t even sum up the fucking words to give the due credit this show deserves. I was going to sum up my feelings of the show is nonsensical song lyrics, such as: Rescue Me is simply the best. Better than all the rest. Or perhaps: If I could trap time in a bottle, the first thing I’d want to do is watch Rescue Me.

But then I thought, nah… there’s only two words that can describe this show: Fucking A. That’s it.

Those two words sum up everything you could possibly express… Hey Fred, you watch Rescue Me last night? Fucking A. How funny was Rescue Me last night? Fucking A. How sad was it when Tommy found the glove? Yeah, Fucking A. How hot was Marissa Tomei? Fuck King A.

Speaking of Ms. Tomei… I’ve had a thing for her ever since I saw My Cousin Vinny with Peter Egan in the middle of the old Oaks Mall theater… the one that’s now the food court. There’s something about an attractive, dark haired woman with a New York accent that drives me crazy. She had me at “yeah, you blend” or “world fucking traveler.” At one of those moments, I knew that one day I wanted to be Mr. Marissa Tomei.

Anyway, one night a week I give myself an hour of no work, no phone calls, no blackberry. Just complete and total Fred time. And that one hour I spend sitting in front of the big screen, watching Rescue Me and truly realizing that the best show on TV is Tuesday’s at 10pm on FX. Check your local listings for channel information.