The year is 1998. We been on the road so much the last coupla years, whew! Why stop now. Let's go! Pearl Jam are readying a new record "YIELD" and a tour to promote it. It is February. It is cold. I wanna surf!( not me, we're talking Ed Ved). Let us begin this tour in
And so we went to The Aloha State! And it was beautiful! A winter journey to be experienced a few times at least! To read a little bit about it if interested, go to HAWAII!!!!And of course, Pearl Jam was playing! Two shows in Maui, kinda messy, and not quite capable of rivaling The Islands! It was here where we met John Goodman! Who woulda thought he'd be Pearl Jamming! So we bid adieu to the land of pineapples(Quick Quiz!!!!For a Gooch autographed picture:"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"
)((SEND TO: GOOCH)) and sail home to the remnants of winter and Utica in all its' glory. But let's thank the people of Hawaii 'cause they were so friendly, and the folks at the Smokehouse Barbecue in Lahaina cause they were great and our Tacoma connection, Stan and Jared cause we had fun hanging out. Oh well at least Don Ho is alive and kicking! Played in Utica 2 months ago, Stan!
In June, it was The Pretenders cranking up a tour with the B-52'S. But they were the opening act so the set would be short and well, a little disappointing cause it was mainly a B-52 crowd so that enthusiasm wasn't there. Went to New Jersey, Jones Beach, Massachusetts and Saratoga 4 days in a row with Shaheen. It was ok. The tour ended on the west coast and I had bought tickets for the last 4 shows when Pete Townshend announces a 3 show mini-tour in Boston, Woodstock and Chicago! Well plans are changed and what a wild weekend in August! Along with Karen and Jim we blazed trails from Philly to Boston to Woodstock to New Jersey to Chicago in 60 hours! What a marathon! The shows were ok but Pete was his aggravating self as he had a fit as equipment didn't work and things sorta petered out. When he played it was something but all that crap in between was killing the pacing and boring me. And it wasn't cheap! Hey I forgot! No I didn't, just misplaced it! Pearl Jam is in America! Cousin Rick living in Chicago calls; "Hey PJ in the United Center! Let's go!!!". Ain't gotta twist my arm! And I decide to go to Seattle in July for PJ, NO RAIN, and visit Stan Jared and Alison. Me and Alison went to Portland, I went up to Vancouver and Ed Ved skateboarded by! I purposely bought 4 tickets for Pete in Boston to give him(Ed Ved) 2! Hey ya never know! But the PJ tour kept him from going so he gave me a buncha tickets for the Seattle shows the next night. That Ed Ved is ok, eh! And we finished off with 2 shows at the City Center with Alison, of which the first night was my all-time fave PJ concert (musta been that Northwestern girl I was with) and than back home. Seattle-visit in the summer when Mt Ranier fills the horizon! Awesome! And the summer of '98 came to a close.
Football '98!! Opening Day in Oakland! Raiders-Giants!!! Me and Dicky jet westward for a long weekend. Dicky's birthday so we celebrate in California. Don't take much of a reason to get me to the Golden State! and The Raiders win in a thriller! I should go all the time cause Raider victories follow me! Hey, Al?!?
And in October we embarked on a full west coast tour. But first we stay a night in Chicago to visit cousin Rick and in the morning fly to Cleveland for The Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame and then onward to: A Raider game in Oakland, a Seahawk-Raider game in Seattle, a visit with Stan, Jared and Alison in Tacoma , the cemeteries in Colma, a trip to Palm Springs; the tram and Frank and Sonny's grave in Cathedral City, our first visit to Pistol Pete's, the series winning Yankees-Padres game in San Diego, a lotta Baskin-Robbins, and VIVA LAS VEGAS!!! My first venture to the city of.... How can we ever thank Lenny and Deb for all the fun times we had and their incredible generosity and kindness by letting us be a part of their family and adventures! THANK_YOU! Now these journeys are getting to be.....Incredible! The sights to see and places to be...never to be forgotten. Gee when we come home it is something to get back in to the Utica scene! Sheesh! Best thing about that ....let's go! After all these flights and stuff the miles accumulate and we had a free trip, so, off we go for a long and last weekend in December! The Dolphins are playing the Raiders and Dicky buys a Porsche at Pomona! What a weekend!!!!
Well it is December of 1998! I haven't talked much about the cem cause it has it's own special page. But it finally all unravels here after 25 years of dedication. The day after Christmas, Dec 26, Don retires!!!!! Who woulda ever thought after more than forty years in Calvary Cemetery. And that ends an unbelievable year on such a sad note! And now 1999! The year that changed The Life and Times of Gooch! But first a word from our sponser! ( might as well make a little dough!)