Camera Apps for iPhones Make Interesting Photos

I downloaded a half a dozen camera apps for my Android phone and gave them a test drive at Roast and Toast and the Noggin Room.

Morning Coffee @ Roast & Toast

Bob & Jeff – Jusduit @ the Noggin Room

400+ Attend Fundraiser for United Way at Stafford’s Perry Hotel in Petoskey

A very large crowd attended the United Way “Instant Wine Cellar” fundraising event at the Perry Hotel on April 20. In excess of 400 attendees showed up with a bottle of wine or a 6-pack as the cost of admission.

Stafford’s provided the food and facility. Boyne River Remedy provided the entertainment.

Char-Em United Way was expecting about 300 to attend. The 400+ more than doubled the attendance of last year and resulted in many new instant wine cellars in Petoskey.

Exactly how many Delta Airline retirees can Petoskey accommodate?

Honest, I swear – Palette Bistro is not paying me, nor are they giving me free wine (hello, Patrick, are you reading this?).

The other night dad was off bowling with Tom (at 86 dad is still rolling that ball 3 times a week at Northern Lights Recreation) and I was debating between City Park Grill and Palette Bistro for a glass of wine and a salad. I love the iceberg wedge at CPG, but the wine and atmosphere at Palette prevailed (I also look forward to the razzing I always get from Patrick).

So there I am at Palette, minding my own business (really? I got a bridge I want to sell you up near Mackinaw) chatting with Pete Platte (bartender and soon to be competitor in the St. George Utah Ironman Competition) and admiring the lone woman at the bar.

“Lone woman at bar” turned out to be Anne a recent retiree from Delta Airlines and new resident of Petoskey, MI. I don’t know what they’re slipping into my wine at Palette, but before you know it I was enrolled in an art class at the Crooked Tree Arts Center and sweating my butt off at Bikram Yoga in Traverse City.

I gotta say – 90 minutes of hot yoga was easier than 2 hours of drawing circles – of course I couldn’t do even a third of the yoga routine, but I did mange to stay in the 105 degree heat the whole time. Call me crazy, but I’m gong back for more – both circles and yoga.

Anne told me she was talking to another Delta retiree in Petoskey and that one of her neighbors is a Delta flight attendant. Which led me to wondering – how many Delta retirees can you cram into a small town in Northern Michigan? Oh, did I mention that I retired from Delta in 2006?

Meeting Facebook Friends in the Real World

Over a year ago, Ron Miller from Midland, MI commented on something I posted on Facebook. Since then, we’ve bounced comments back and forth and made a few attempts to connect in person, as he and his wife Willie have a cabin up on Burt Lake . They’re often in Petoskey, when they’re Up North, but I’ve been out of town when they were.

This past Saturday, we finally connected at Palette Bistro in Petoskey. (I swear, The Wine Guys are not paying for all the press I am giving them, but hey – when you like a place, you go there often – and besides, Ron picked it for the wine.)

So there we were, 3 Facebook profiles facing each other in the real world for 2 1/2 hours. Two bottles of wine, a pizza and a few small plates later, we were fast friends and making plans for BBQs and lawn mowing contests this summer – ask Ron.

Ron is President of Arbury Insurance down in Midland, but they are now in about 12 states. We talked about Social Media and Internet Marketing, kids, trips to Europe, Petoskey, Northern Michigan restaurants…

You’d think I would have snapped at least one pic, but I didn’t. However, to keep from totally falling out of character, I did raz Patrick a little. Speaking about the staff at the Palette – Pete Platte (new bartender) and his sister, Jamie (waitress), were both working on Sat – but somehow Jamie escaped work after a couple of hours, at which time she took a seat at the bar and had her younger brother wait on her – righteous!

And there you have it – another fine time at Palette Bistro – meeting old friends for the first time and just hanging loose Up North.

I do miss that summer weather we had last week.

Michelle Chenard releases Blade at City Park Grill

Last night local singer, songwriter – siren – Michelle Chenard was hosted at the City Park Grill for the release of her new video single – Blade. Check it out.

“Blade” Official Music Video from Scott Castelein on Vimeo.

Live Entertainment in the Noggin Room Pub  -  Michelle Chenard

Good Wine, Good Food, Unbelievable Weather & the James Gang

As my old pappy often says - Anyone that doesn’t like this life is crazy! And that just about sums it up for Tuesday evening relaxing on the patio at Palette Bistro.

Could the weather be any more fantastic? What wonder these last couple of weeks of summer before spring. I showed up at Palette Bistro at about 4:30 to just sip some wine, relax, much a little and reread Robert Crais’ latest book Taken on my Kindle.

I was alternating my sipping between Pellegrino & Pinot Noir. Before I started in on the Capicola Pizza you see to the right, I had a chilled green bean and roasted red pepper salad – as Holly says – TUM!

About 20 minutes into my good time, Craig & Sue James from Cleveland, Oh showed up to crash my private party on the patio. They each were sporting a pair of similar looking bags, so I asked them what they were into. Craig gave some line that reminded me of Eddie Mora in Limitless when he’s trying to explain the concept behind the book he is writing.

It was obvious to me, that more exploration was needed, so I invited them over and we spent the next couple of ours upgrading my good time to a great time.

Craig & Sue are tech oriented future thinkers who grew up in the wild days of computer mania – one of the worked in sales for Burroughs Corpoaration and the other for Sperry Corporation. Which answers the age-old question of what do you get when two computer sales people meet over wine in Cleveland? – a 25-year marriage and Unisys for all – or in this case – CatStrat.

A couple of refills later and with many smiles and gladness in our hearts and souls – we bid adieu to Palette and the awesome pre-Spring day.

Below is a video the Jameses recommended – it should clue you in a bit on just how exceptional their taste in technology, music and patio company is – talk about refined palettes!

Spring Sprang before the St. Patrick’s Day Festivities in Petoskey

About a week ago, I saw the first fly of the year banging against the back door and then a couple of days later, I saw a lady bug crawling up a window. It seems Spring arrived a couple of weeks early in Petoskey, MI., though a lot of clean up work is still happening as a result of the last blast of winter a couple of weeks ago.

Yesterday, I had lunch at Julienne Tomatoes - corned beef & cabbage to help celebrate St. Patrick’s Day – afterwards, I returned home and turned the compost pile – that corned beef was sitting pretty heavy in the stomach.

Last night, I was sitting on the patio at the Palette Bistro sipping wine and Pelligrinno with friends – in March! The patio filled up in no time. We showed up at 3:40pm, but Patrick, opened the doors early and began waiting on us all.

Today, it’s more time in the garden – I’m waiting on a palette of landscaping block to arrive from Lowe’s. I’ll be using them to create raised beds in the garden.

My phone app says 72 degrees is expected today – what a day for St. Patrick’s Day in Petoskey.

First Sunrise of Daylight Savings Time was Spectacular

What a glorious morning in Petoskey, MI! I awoke at 6am – make that 7am now that we have sprung forward into daylight savings time – to a clear sky and a bright sun rising. It’s about 45 degrees outside and the snow from last weeks Spring storm is almost gone, along with the rest of winter’s accumulation.

As I walked from the office into the hall, I thought I had left a hall light on, but it was only the sun lighting up my world.

Petoskey seems to be having a busy weekend. Last night the Noggin Room was packed. Well, off to Roast and Toast for coffee and the Sunday paper. It’s an awesome day to be Up North in Petoskey!

Core Strength Training = Winning Hockey Team

The Northern Avalanche boys hockey team won 8 in a row and then 2 back-to-back district games to send them on to the state hockey games. The boys and their parents give a lot of credit to their core strength training.

How do you take a gaggle of hockey players, skates, sticks and gloves and turn them into a team that likes to play together and have fun while winning?  What follows may sound academic, but the conceptual model is important to understand the fun you see during the video.

“We are in such better shape than the other teams.”  was the major comment every week.

Erik Erikson discusses adolescence (ages 12 to 18) as “Identity versus Role Confusion.”  A major strength during this period is having a relationship with a peer group – even while struggling with an identity within that peer group.  This strength, and conflict, provides a perfect opportunity for team sports, such as hockey, to help build a positive self esteem.  The physical training program for the Northern Avalanche had a purpose of not only assisting in building that self esteem, but engaging physical exercises that wouldn’t exhibit major differences in adolescent boys that could trigger issues or doubts in self esteem while building those relationships.  There was also an inclusion of fun, team building, and constant reinforcement by providing a fast paced program going from slow and simple to rapid and more difficult.

While training during the hockey season, injuries need to be guarded against, so the core strengthening and increases in flexibility worked to prevent injuries both on and off the ice.  Doing this in a group setting requires close monitoring of exercise technique while allowing the peer group to follow each other toward perfection versus individual efforts.  Each participant took part in all exercises and gained a comfort within the team framework as they all succeeded in meeting the demands of the regime.

As the hockey season progressed, the tempo and difficulty of the exercise could be increased for many reasons.  One, the adolescent was developing before our eyes, and second, the team’s success on the ice proved the concept of off-ice training was working.  The team was asked weekly what they began to see as advantages over other teams.  Speed, strength, and endurance were the factors often mentioned.  There were concentration exercises under physical duress added to ensure players were sharp while under pressures of power plays, penalty kills, and third periods.  The players also noted if they were caught on ice for a long shift, they were able to respond and not give up easy scoring chances.

Finally, during the core strengthening sessions, nutrition was discussed.  The players were interested in having the necessary calories, but also the necessary nutrients within those calories to maximize their potential.  This was the lynch pin within the team training that offered the total experience.  With a wonderful parent group and coaching staff, players within the Northern Avalanche hockey program learn and experience much more than hockey games during their season.

Brother Dan’s Food Pantry Petoskey MI

Last week over 10 bands, a bunch of sponsors and volunteers and a great many people with hearts came out to the fairgrounds to help raise money for Brother Dan’s Food Pantry. This was the 3rd year for the “Have a Heart” fundraiser which is scheduled to coincide with Valentine’s Day.

A big THANK YOU to Bob Greenway of Homestead Furniture for his dedication in organizing this event – and to a ll the sponsors, volunteers, performers and the community.

There was nonstop music and food from noon to 11pm. Catch a little bit of the action on this video -