Surfing the net

Time was, Springsteen — and Prince — each walked to the lip of the stage during their acts, turned around, and fell back into the crowd down front. I remember wishing I had that kind of faith.

It’s getting there, especially these last few months. Every day brings another friend, a re-connection — even a new one or three. All of them are like interlocked fingers (remember “Here’s the church”?). They give me the faith to let go.

I write this now because a fellow blogger did me more than a solid today. He left me speechless.

What I can say is: Please check out his blog.  It’s been awesome right from the jump and will be big stuff someday. So hop on now:

Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?

Rockland man in Closter crash was drunk, cops say

A Rockland County man was drunk when he ran a stop sign and his SUV smashed into a sedan in Closter yesterday, sending a 57-year-old River Edge man to the hospital with serious injuries, authorities said this afternoon.

Keep reading→

WNY police cuts threatened

West New York officials are threatening to lay off a fifth of their uniformed officers if the municipal labor unions can’t collectively come up with enough budget cuts to avoid a tax increase.

More than 70 employees would lose their jobs, including 22 police officers, according to notices officials sent to all town employees late last week.

Whether it’s a tactical ploy remains to be seen.

Residents have packed Town Hall meetings to complain about the municipality’s steep tax hikes in recent years, and there have been rumblings of a possible recall of Mayor Silverio “Sal” Vega and his commissioners.

Facing an angry electorate on one side and municipal employees on the other puts Vega and his associates in a tight spot they may not be able to wiggle out of without causing serious damage somewhere.

City negotiators are in talks with three unions representing 112 officers and nearly 340 other town workers.

If they can find $5 million in savings, city officials say, the number of layoffs would dramatically decrease. But that money has to come from somewhere — and that’s usually when the talk turns to givebacks.

In this case, one of the key issues reportedly is the cost of health coverage.

The clock is ticking, though: The notice said terminations would come in about six weeks.

Police Director Oscar Fernandez has promised to redeploy officers to keep the public safe if he loses staff. How that would affect the town — which is fast approaching 50,000 Census-counted residents over a square mile of land — remains to be seen.

State Civil Service officials have signed off on the layoff plan, which would give those terminated priority in rehiring.

Stay tuned.

Sax legend Sam Butera joins a new band

They buried Sam Butera in Las Vegas this weekend, giving Gabriel the one saxophonist who could make a heavenly band swing like the devil. Darkly handsome, Uncle Sam died earlier this month — a footnote for many in the musical world but a noted loss for anyone who knew where rock and roll really began.

Butera, 81, tenor played sax behind Louis Prima, a combination rivaled in our generation only by The Boss and the Big Man. He helped make Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Royal Crown Revue, and the latest incarnation of Brian Setzer possible.

If you don’t believe me, go to YouTube or dig up few Prima classics: “Buona Sera,” “Jump, Jive An’ Wail,” or “5 Months, Two Weeks, Two Days.” Listen, in particular, especially to “Oh, Marie,” where Prima scats in English and Italian — and Butera matches him note-for-note.

Butera wasn’t just a pillar of Prima’s incredible ensemble, known as the Witnesses. He brought crowds accustomed to smoky lounge acts playing bebop and tired standards to their feet at the Sahara in Vegas, with a blistering style that bridged the gap between western swing and jump blues, not to mention a smile wide as the stage. Keep reading→