The Big Apple has been deep fried all summer long, so it was a relief when the temperature was in the low 80s and the humidity was minimal last (All*Star) Thursday.  I rode my bike across the Brooklyn Bridge, up the Hudson River Bike Path, and zipped across 72nd Street into the park for our weekly Tribal unification ceremony.  Guitar Sean and flute playing.  Roger were seated with Robbie-Rob, Sue, and Brother David Fried who’s in from Germany.  The latter Fried channels his creative Flow into amazing works of art. take some time to check it out: www.davidfried.com Next to arrive were Chuck, Fearless Lou, and the Reliable One himself, setting The Gamboa on the Manhole for the first time since late June!.  ”WOOHOO!

I was a little anxious so I asked Rob who is on the semi-DL with a shoulder inflammation to get up for a Light Toss.  Even when he is clearly hurting, the guy still has such amazing disc awareness that he hit couple of nice Scarecrows, and sweet kick tip to Gitis.  When he sat to rest, I went and joined in with Roger and my boy Fearless and we got it going pretty good.  The Oracle made his first A*T appearance at this point, and he looked great.  The west and wewaxation he got on the Left Coast definitely did him good, so thanks to all of our Plastic Peeps out the for lookin’ out for him.  TedShred and the Lovely Chrissy , Bradford T., Ben-Heaver, and Ivan-TJH rounded out the crew.

After hydrating I was ready to go again.  Brad was barefoot and TO was still wearing sandals meaning neither was ready to Jam.  When I made note of this, Mr. Oberhaus said “Lemme fix that…” and soon it was off to the races.  My “Son” Ivan-TJH joined us shortly thereafter, while The Oracle slid seamlessly into the Roger and Lou Jam.  Since we had a relatively turnout, the groupings lasted a little longer than usual.  This led to some very fine work.  TO was punchin’ the clock, playing at his normal incredible high level while Ivan showed off his incredible athleticism.  This cat hustles like crazy and pushes himself to make plays at every moment.  The other Jam must’ve been going well ‘cuz I heard the “Wocka, Wocka, Wocka” call of the Gitis a few times.  Periodically we’d tag team so that everyone got a bit of Joey or a piece of TedShred while keeping the Jams fresh.  Fresh…Fresh…No Fresh Inside.  He’s in the Greek Isles, and we miss him, Jill, BenJAMin, and Claire,

I broke for a bit of Chrissy’s Meadow Ambrosia and spent a few minutes chatting and absorbing the beautiful evening.  Gotta say we are a very lucky bunch.  Even with a small turnout we still manage to get after it in a big way.  The last Jam standing included The Oracle, Ivan, and me.  As great a player as he already is, Joey was sharper than ever after playing in the Worlds and in his sojourn up and down the Left Coast.  This meant that when Lou shouted “Play Better!”, we really pushed to make sure we increased our intensity level.  ‘Twas no real surprise when he walked off into the sunset with The Gamboa in tow.  Yeah, it was a good day.

News Flash: The September 23rd A*TGJI soiree featuring Matteo “Gaddoz” Gaddoni is shaping up to be a big deal.  Heather Gray, Sue Strait, and Mr. Bill Wright (our very first A*TGJI Designee) just confirmed that they were comin’ down.  Toddy B. and Alan C. are gonna be here and there are a few other folks who are trying to finish the season in style.  What about YOU???!!!!

Hasta La Vista, Baby…WOOF, WOOF, WOOF, WOOF!!!

TP-TJH

P.S.  Hey Young Daniel—Heal FAST!!!!!!!