Nanoplugs

It was a beautiful day. The Trike had been in the shop for 20,000 mile service and it was a pleasure to pick it up and go for a ride. It had been running very rough — now it purrs like a kitten. The mechanic told me the problem was that the spark plugs were badly “fouled“. The fouling was not caused by software or engineering design. It was caused by an accumulation of materials on the plug resulting from improper fuel burn or perhaps just from thousands of miles of the engine running. I don’t know much about spark plugs but I have a hunch that they will be different in the future as nanotechnology changes virtually everything — make that every thing. 

The field of materials science has been studying and applying the properties of matter for decades. The advances of nanotechnology have enabled scientists to investigate the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and develop materials not previously dreamed of. For example, the Los Angeles Times posted a story about a new material that is so lightweight that a block of it can sit  on top of a fluffy dandelion without even bending the delicate little seeds (See Scientists invent lightest material on Earth). The new nanomaterial is incredibly light — styrofoam is 100 times heavier. The  November 18 issue of Science reported that the new material is the lightest material on Earth. The offical name of the material is “ultralight metallic microlattice” — it is 99.99% air. The “microlattice” cellular architecture  includes interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. So far, the new material is a solution looking for a problem, but the researchers believe it could be used for impact protection, aerospace applications, acoustic dampening, or battery applications.

Virtually all  products will be enhanced with nanotechnology. Many have already reached the consumer market including tennis balls that last longer, golf balls that fly straighter, and bowling balls that have a harder surface. Trousers and socks have been infused with nanotechnology that makes them last longer and keep bodies cooler in the summer. Whatever room you may be in, just look around and imagine how many materials there are. All of them will be transformed. While there is potential harm from nanotechnology, the potential benefits are huge. Yesterday, I was imagining spark plugs that are impervious to fouling and oil that has an additive that prevents the oil from sticking to anything it is not supposed to stick to.

Book Stores

With the exception of one washout, this has been a great summer for motorcycling. Yesterday, it was a trike ride down to Bethlehem, PA taking only back roads to get there. It was about 75 miles from the lake. We saw a lot of downed trees and wires along the way. We parked the trike in the historic area of Main Street and had a nice lunch outdoors at Mamma Nina Foccacheria and then visited some of the shops. The most interesting was Seasons Olive Oil & Vinegar Taproom, which carries a large collection of exclusive, fresh extra virgin olive oils and traditional balsamic vinegars – all on tap from stainless steel Italian “fustis” for sipping before you buy.

The largest shop on Main Street is the Moravian Book Shop, the oldest continuously running bookseller in the world, founded in 1745. I don’t know what percentage of their sales comes from books, but the store offers a wide variety of distinctive merchandise. The failure of Borders leaves Barnes & Noble as the only national bookstore chain in the U.S. and it is racing to grow its e-book business with the Nook, while overall book sales continue to decline. Although printed book sales are continuing a long-term negative trend, they are not headed to zero. With unit volumes going down, printed books will surely rise in price. Some people will go to Blurb and print their own books. Many people will continue to go to book stores–maybe not the megastores like B&N–but to stores like the Moravian Book Shop where there is an entire room full of books for children and tables and displays throughout with printed books of all kinds. Then there is the Cocoon Coffee House in Hawley, PA. Many people go there for WiFi, panini, salad, and a glass of wine, but others go to buy a book. It is not exactly a book store–more of a cooperative arrangement with local libraries who may have some books to turnover. Books will be around for a long time. Libraries are not going away any time soon either. See WorldCat.

Tags: barnes & noble, bethlehem, book stores, books, cocoon, e-books, foccacheria, hawley, Mamma Nina, moravian, nook

Neil Sedaka in Bethel Woods

Most of the entries in the Favorite Concerts page are classical music concerts, but last night at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts was a different kind of “classical” music. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra was conducted by our own Jerry Steichen, music director of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra. The rendezvous of my brother and his wife and my wife and I was to be via our motorcycles, but the weather did not cooperate. With probability at 50% we go, but when it is 70% with large hail and severe winds, we opt out and go in the cage. Not that we are afraid of getting wet, as we have many times, but going to a concert and sitting there soaked to the bone is no fun. We made the right call as it did in fact rain quite a bit. After Jerry conducted a number of piceces, he lead the excellent orchestra in playing the legendary singer and songwriter, Neil Sedaka, who launched his official foray into classical music with Joie de Vivre, Sedaka’s first symphony.  He also performed his new piano concerto, “Manhattan Intermezzo”.  Sedaka composed a lot of music, some of which he performed, but much of which he composed for others. Connie Francis recorded his “Stupid Cupid.” and “Where the Boys Are”, which would be her biggest hit. Sedaka recorded chart toppers “The Diary,” “Oh! Carol,” ” Stairway to Heaven,” “Calendar Girl,” “Little Devil,” “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Next Door To An Angel,” and “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is said to be comprised of some of the country’s finest musicians, but accompanying pop songs from fifty years go may have been a first for them. As for Neil Sedaka– he was amazing. A spring in his step, the enthusiasm of someone less than half his age, and a voice showing no signs of age. His diversity in genre was impressive. Having sold 40 million albums and an abundance of royalty inflow from his creative efforts, he surely is not engaging in a dozen performances per year for the money. He is inspired by the excitement of entertaining others. The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is a first class venu. Bethel Woods is in Bethel, New York,  became famous in 1969 when nearly 500,000 people gathered at Max Yasgur’s Farm for “Three Days of Peace and Music”. If you enter the Center for the Arts address of 200 Hurd Road, Bethel, NY, in your mapping software or GPS, there is a good chance it will direct you to the hamlet of Bethel which is actually part of Pine Plains, NY. The “other” Bethel is the “town” of Bethel which is actually in the unincorporated hamlet of White Lake, NY. By the way, Woodstock, where the concert was helf is 43 miles from the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, where the Woodstock Museum is. If you dig a little deeper, you will find there is also another White Lake in upstate New York. It was a great trip and we learned a lot we didn’t know: Neil Sedaka wrote a symphony and played a concerto. We also learned there are two Bethels and two White Lakes.

Tags: bethel, bethel woods, buddy holly, chantelles, classics, doo wop, drifters, fifties, fireflies, jerry steichen, kenny vance, neil sedaka, new jersey symphony, passions, pine plains, planotones, white lake, woodstock

Tanglewood by Trike – 2011

It was a special treat to be able to enjoy a nice 400 mile motorcycle trip along with a memorable concert at Tanglewood. The ride from the lakehouse in Pennsylvania to Lenox, Massachusetts took us on interstate highways initially but then mostly on state and county backroads in the state of New York and then on numerous back roads to Massachusetts, through West Stockbridge and into Berkshire County to Lenox, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The BSO weekend concert included one of the world’s foremost concert pianists, Emanuel Ax, performing one of my favorites, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat, K.482, written in Vienna in 1785 when the young composer was writing many new concertos for performances featuring himself as soloist. I have been listening to Emanuel Ax for decades but this is the first time I had seen him in a live performance. He was amazing. Performing the “too many notes” of Mozart seemed like a joy to him as it was to us.

Lionel Bringuier, assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, who made his BSO and Tanglewood debut in this program, was also amazing. It was great to see that there are young conductors coming up through the ranks. His energy was exciting for all.

The first concert at Tanglewood was in 1936 and since then a substantial organization and support structure has grown up around the beautiful facility. The capacity is 24,000. Not sure how many were there on Sunday but thousands for sure. Although the main gate was closed to cars when we arrived the police happily motioned us in. Most big events are very courteous to motorcyclists. They save some choice parking areas that are not big enough for cars but are perfect for bikes (or trikes). There were thousands of cars, but just two trikes!

Most people bring wagons with their folded chairs and tables and dinner. Some make quite an elaborate evening out of the free seats on the lawn and embellish their wines and dinners with candles and even candelabras. Nothing that fancy, but we had a great dinner at the Dakota Steak House in Pittsfield.

On the way back we headed across the Hudson River via the Rip Van Winkle Bridge and then up route 385 to Coxackie where we met with our daughter and grandchildren at the Blue Water Bistro. After a delightful lunch, we headed down route 209 along the historic Delaware and Hudson Canal and then back to the Lake. We dodged a few thunderstorms but did not get too wet. We look forward now to another trike trip to Bethel Woods. Stay tuned.

Tags: boston pops, boston symphony orchestra, bso, dakota, delaware and hudson, hudson, hudson river, james taylor, john williams, keith lockhart, kingston, lenox, motorcycle, mozart, pittsfield, route 209, smetana, stockbridge, tanglewood, tchaikovsky, trike, woodstock, yo-yo ma

Doo Wop – Why They Keep Going

Most of the entries in the Favorite Concerts pageare classical music concerts, but last night at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts was a different kind of “classical” music. The NY Doo Wop Extravaganza featured The Mystics (“Hushabye”), The Passions (“Just To Be With You”), The Classics (“Till Then”), Buddy Holly’s Crickets (“Peggy Sue”), Charlie Thomas & The Drifters (“Under The Boardwalk”), Kenny Vance & The Planotones (“Looking For An Echo”), The Chantels (“Maybe”), and The Fireflies (“You Were Mine”). The Doo Wop spectacular featured these and many more classics of the 50s & 60s. It was a real trip down memory lane.

The Origins of Doo Wop are debated but most would agree that it evolved from a merging of pop, gospel, blues, jazz and swing elements in the late 1940′s and early 50′s. Some call it vocal group harmonizing at it’s best. It would be hard to disagree that Doo Wop music is, innocent, joyous, romantic and, almost spiritual.

Watching these performing groups on stage is always inspiring. A little arithmetic from the fifties to now can quickly show that most of the performers were well past 60. Charlie Thomas was 74 in April, Kenny Vance will be 68 in December. Some looked their age, some did not. All of them had great voices and rhythm. If you look at their concert schedules on the web sites you can see that they are performing almost constantly — one group claimed 208 concerts last year. Why are they doing this? Why don’t they stop and retire? It is possible some lived past their means or did not invest in their future during the hay days and now need the money. Others may do it out of loyalty to other members of their group. Some may not know what else to do. Most however, are probably doing it because they love it. You could see the sparkle in their eyes and the spring in their step. As the audience raved, the performers were inspired, and the cycle continued. It was a great night and a nice trike ride to arrive back at the Lake at midnight.

Tags: bethel woods, buddy holly, chantelles, classics, doo wop, drifters, fifties, fireflies, kenny vance, passions, planotones

patrickWeb

It was a beautiful day for riding the trike. The motorcycle log is getting close to 70,000 miles. As an added bonus to the ride, I got to see 8-day-old granddaughter, Cali.

Tags: cali, grandchilren, harley, motorcycle, motorcycling, newtown, riding, trike

IBM at 100 – A Day of Nostalgia and Optimism

I was not exactly sure what to expect when I arrived at the world famous T. J. Watson Research Center at IBM last week. I have been there many times over the years but never to a birthday party. I walked in to the arrival tent where light refreshments were being served and the crowd of 350 invited guests began to build. One of the first people I saw was Allen Krowe. Allen had been CFO of IBM and then Vice Chairman of Texaco. I was his assistant back in 1981. I remember the day that he turned 50 years old and thinking that was very advanced. That was 30 years ago and NOW I am 15 years older than he was then. Then I saw Spike Beitzel. Spike had been a sales manager in Philadelphia for IBM’s insurance industry customers, the same position that I held some years later. Spike is a pilot, as was Allen, and many other senior IBM executives, including Thomas J. Watson, Jr. Spike is 83 and still flies his own airplane. It was nice to talk about aviation. It was a privilege to say hello to three IBM CEOs — John Akers, Lou Gerstner, and Sam Palmisano. There were four current and former heads of IBM Research there. One of them was Ralph Gomory. I am not sure how old Ralph is but he got his PhD in mathematics from Princeton in 1954. Whenb he retired from IBM in 1989 he became president of the Sloan Foundation. The pattern became clear — this was not just a birthday party for IBM; it was an alumni reunion for executives that worked for IBM over the past fifty years. Then I ran into the former heads of IBM Japn, IBM China, IBM Italy, IBM Brazil, and various other parts of IBM from around the world. Former Chairman Thomas J. Watson, Jr., said in 1957 that IBM “is a company of human beings, not machines; personalities, not products; people, not real estate.” That observation was true long before 1957 — and it remains so today. Although every IBMer makes a difference, there is a list of IBM Builders that were the pioneers who helped to fashion the IBM of the 21st century. Most of them were were among those in the tent; it was humbling to be in their midst and a thrill to shake their hands. Everyone had a smile on their face. It was a happy and nostalgic day that none of us will ever forget.

The main event took place in a really big tent. There were 2,000 members of IBM Research in attendance. During the opening ceremonies Sam Palmisano asked the thirty members of the Watson family in attendance to stand; everyone appreciated the heritage of the company. The family must have been proud to hear about Watson, the advanced Q&A system that triumphed at Jeopardy, and will surely change the way medicine is practiced as it transforms anecdotal medicine to personalized, evidence-based medicine. The program included some excellent videos about the past, present, and future of IBM. Senior VP Jon Iwata interviewed three journalists, Kevin Maney, Steve Hamm and Jeffrey O’Brien about the research they had done to write their new book about IBM called Making the World Work Better: The Ideas That Shaped a Century and a Company. I have known Kevin for quite a few years. When he quoted someone in his columns at USA Today, you always knew that he would not use information out of context. Steve Hamm wrote the story about my home when he was at BusinessWeek. He now works for IBM. It was an alumni event with journalists too! Another panel with Senior VP John Kelly focused on IBM research efforts around the world, in particular about IBM’s advanced work on environmental and healthcare initiatives. Sam and senior vice president and group executive for sales, marketing and strategy Ginni Rometty painted a rosy picture of IBM’s future.  IBM also cares about the future of others. As part of its Celebration of Service, 300,000 IBMers around the world — nearly three quarters of its global workforce — volunteeried in more than 5,000 projects in 120 countries, helping millions in need. Since the beginning of the year, IBMers, retirees and their families have donated more than 2.5 million hours of service to communities worldwide. A lot of conofidence was exuded that another 100 years of innovation and growth are underway.

Tags: akers, Aviation, beitzel, evidence based medicine, gerstner, gomory, Healthcare, IBM, IBM Research, kevin maney, krowe, palmisano, personalized medicine, research, rometty, steve hamm, supercomputing, watson, yorktown

Bike Week

One of the nice things about Florida–in addition to the weather–is that friends and family come to visit. This week it was my Harley-riding brother and his wife from upstate New York who visited for a few days. They trailored a new trike down and plan to take various side trips with it and then trailor it back north, and hope the snow is gone by the time they get home. My brother had been to Bike Week before, but it was a first for me. Daytona Beach is only about 30 miles away, but we took the long way, stopped near Ormond Beach for lunch at one of the many “welcome bikers” establishments, and then took a scenic ride along the Old Dixie Highway. The original Dixie Highway was part of the National Auto Trail system, first planned in 1914 to connect the US Midwest with the Southern United States. In total, it is nearly 6,000 miles of segments. The stretch from Ormond Beach to Daytona Beach is quite scenic with a cathedral of overhanging moss and live oak trees.

Daytona Bike Week is an annual motorcycle event and rally that attracts approximately 500,000 people from all over the country. The 10-day event includes motorcycle racing, concerts, parties, street festivals, and of course a huge presence of vendors selling everything imaginable — and some things unimaginable.  Biker Week is a model when it comes to diversity. You will see people old and young, tall and short, slim and obese, well-clothed and barely clothed, long hair, pony tails, short hair, flat tops, and no hair. There are many couples and this year boasted more than 100 weddings that took place on bikes during the event.  Some bikes are painted with pagan and satanic images but among the vendor booths are some that pass out “biker Bibles” and others that offer Christian counseling. Speaking of counseling, the biker attornies have a strong presence for both plaintifs and defendants.

Harley-Davidson is to the Bike Week crowd as the iPad is to the tablet computer market — dominant. Every model and color the company makes were present, but of course the hallmark of a Harley is the customization performed by or for the owners. With my normal disclosure that I am a poor photographer, there are a few pictures from Daytona here on Facebook. What makes a person a biker? There are as many reasons as there are bikes. For me, it is an enjoyable hobby wherein you see places you don’t notice when driving a car and meet some very interesting people.

I always get the question from someone who learns I am a rider, “Do you wear a helmet?”. The answer is yes. The three states that I hang out in — Connecticut, Florida, and Pennsylvania — all have no helmet law. Pennsylvania had a helmet law and repealed it. The motorcycling lobby is a strong one. The argument is that helmets obstruct your vision and hearing. I think there is an element of truth to that but it is incontrovertible that falling off of a bike without a helmet is dangerous to your head. There have been a number of scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles that reflect considerable research on the subject. There is no doubt that lack of a helmet is tied to increased mortality. The keys from my perspective are to take it as a fact that motorcycling is dangerous and to ride defensively. Assume that a car at a cross intersection does not see you and will pull out in front of you. I believe in the slogan “Ride to live and live to ride”.

Tags: bike week, Daytona, harley, helmet, motorcycle, trike

Grand Canyon

Until this week I thought the Grand Canyon was a unique place in Arizona. The Grand Canyon there is the giant for sure — 277 miles  long, up to 18 miles wide and over a mile deep — but now I have learned about another Grand Canyon — in Pennsylvania. The motorcycle trip started out in cloudy weather but within the first hour we encountered rain — not just a few sprinkles but a steady downpour. By the time we reached downtown  historic Tunkhannock the streets were flooded. We found a place to park and went into Twigs Restaurant and Cafe.

I was anxious to check the radar at wunderground.com on the iPhone 4 to see where the storm lines were so I asked the hostess if they had WiFi. Oh, yes we do she proudly announced. Great, what is the SSID? You mean the password? No I mean the name of your wireless access point. Oh, just use “twigs”. Is that with a capital T or lower case? It doesn’t matter. Excuse me, but it does matter. No problem I will try both. Neither worked. Excuse me, is that with one g or two? Just one. Sorry but neither work. Sorry, said the hostess. The owner knows but he isn’t here. Maybe someone else knows? The hostess returned and said it was Twigs1. Nope. No, you need two T’s. I tried TTwigs and Ttwigs, and ttwigs. None worked. The bartender said it is TwigsTwigs1. I tried with and without the 1 but had no luck. The hostess said she had confirmed with the owner that it was correct so if it doesn’t work then you have to contact WiFi! If that doesn’t work try your Internet Service Provider. I explained that the name was set in a little box right there in Twigs and that it was up to them what name they gave it and seems strange that they would want to make it so hard for their customers to use. I finally gave up. At least the food was good. Looking out the window at the downpour and the four of us suited up in our rain gear and headed out into the torrents of rain.

The next hundred miles was more of the same. We could tell that the scenic U.S. Route 6 — more than 3,000 miles long extending from Provincetown, Massachusetts to Bishop, California — offered some great views of the hills and valleys. The stretch of Route 6 we were traveling along the 444 mile long Susquehanna River was beautiful but unfortunately we were not going to witness that on this day and we also needed to keep very focused on the road in front of us. The 175 mile adventure ended in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, a small town of 3,500 people but with a disproportionate number of shops and restaurants to accommodate the tourists who come there to see the Grand Canyon of PA.

First steps for my brother and I and our wives were to check in to the motel, get our motorcycles parked, get a hot shower, and get our rain gear spread out to dry. The  motel WiFi was simple and fast and the iPad was great for checking email, the day’s market activities, and the news and weather — no longer a need to travel with a heavy laptop.  We headed out with umbrellas to Timeless Destination, a fine Italian restaurant a few blocks from the motel. The food was great and just for grins, I asked if they had WiFi. Oh yes but only the manager knows the password and he isn’t in today! I still stand by my deciiion to have gotten the iPad and the new Kindle (coming in a couple of weeks) with no 3GS, just WiFi. WiFi may not be ubiquitous but it is getting there — with a few exceptions in north central Pennsylvania.

After eggs and potatoes at the Wellsboro Diner in the center of town (did not bother asking about WiFi),  it was time to head out west on Route 660 to Grand Canyon. We gambled that we would not need our rain gear and although the weather was not picture perfect we did escape all but a few sprinkles for the day. A short ten mile ride through the hills and valleys brought us to the end of 660 and to the scenic overlook on the east ridge of the canyon in the 160,000 acre park in the Tioga State Forest. I haven’t been to the Grand Canyon in Arizona since I was a child so I can’t compare accurately but the Grand Canyon PA was quite impressive. Also known as Pine Creek Gorge, the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania is situated along Pine Creek. The Canyon begins near Wellsboro along Route 6 and continues for approximately 47 miles. The maximum depth of the canyon is 1,450 feet and the distance from rim to rim is approximately 4,000 feet. It is worth seeing and with more time it affords some excellent hiking.

The ride back to the Lake gave us the chance to see the scenic overlooks that we had missed during the prior rainy day. Near Towanda in Asylum Township along the banks of the Susquehanna we saw an historical marking that states, “Marie Antoinette Scenic View, 2000 feet”.  Turns out that in 1793, during the French Revolution several French loyalists fled France and the French island of Santo Domingo (present-day Haiti) to escape persecution and death for their loyalty to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. They landed on the shores of Philadelphia where some prominent Philadelphians agreed to finance their stay in Pennsylvania. 1,600 acres in Northeastern Pennsylvania were purchased and given to the refugees.  The loyalists traveled up the Susquehanna River to a pristine area in the valley. They had found their safe harbor and named it Asylum. (During the Reign of Terror, at the height of the French Revolution, Louis XVI was deposed and the royal family was imprisoned. Nine months after her husband’s execution, Marie Antoinette was tried, convicted of treason, and executed by guillotine in October 1793.

We stopped in Towanda for lunch. The main street was similar to many towns along Route 6 including it’s own Opera House dated 1886 which is now a hardware store. Unfortunately, the business landscape of rural Pennsylvania and New York reveals many closed retailers and manufacturers. The primary place you see thriving buildings with full parking lots are at schools, hospitals, medical labs and clinics, senior citizen living centers, and various government buildings. I have been fortunate to have traveled to many countries around the world but there is much more to see within a day’s motorcycle ride in the northeast part of America.

Tags: french revolution, grand canyon, grand canyon pa, marie antoinette, motorcycle, rain, route 6, towanda, trike, tunkhannock, wellsboro, WiFi

Tanglewood by Trike

It was a special treat to be able to enjoy a nice 375 mile motorcycle trip along with a memorable concert at Tanglewood. The ride from the lakehouse in Pennsylvania to Lenox, Massachusetts took us on mostly state and county roads in the state of New York. We took Route 6 through Milford, PA to Port Jervis, NY and then up route 209 along the historic Delaware and Hudson Canal to Kingston, across the Hudson and then on numerous back roads to Massachusetts, through West Stockbridge and into Berkshire County to Lenox, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. After checking in at the Inn we headed for Tanglewood.

The first concert at Tanglewood was in 1936 and since then a substantial organization and support structure has grown up around the beautiful facility. The capacity is 24,000. Not sure how many were there last night but probably close to the limit. Although the main gate was closed to cars when we arrived the police happily motioned us in. Most big events are very courteous to motorcyclists. They save some choice parking areas that are not big enough for cars but perfect for bikes (or trikes). Most people bring wagons with their folded chairs and tables and dinner. Some make quite an elaborate evening out of the free seats on the lawn and embellish their wines and dinners with candles and even candelabras.

The theme of the concert was to honor the 30th anniversary at Tanglewood of composer John Williams. Williams is more famous than most of us probably realize. He has composed many of the most recognizable film scores in history, including Jaws, the Star Wars films, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Home Alone, and three Harry Potter films.

The star studded evening included the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. Keith Lockhart, Stefan Asbury, and John Williams all conducted (see stories about my own conducting experiences). The program included selections from Superman, JFK, Seven for Luck, and Harry Potter. As a bonus there was music from the film score of Memoirs of a Geisha conducted by Williams and with an incredible solo performance by Yo-Yo Ma. Ma never ceases to delight and amaze audiences. His first performance was at age five and at age seven he performed for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower. As if the program was not already over the top, nearby resident James Taylor appeared to sing and honor Williams. The evening concluded with Williams conducting Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. There was a fireworks display while the thousands of attendees filed out. For us it was a short three mile ride on the trike back to the Inn.

Today’s ride was mostly backtracking from yesterday but with a few detours to take a slow ride through the main streets of Stockbridge and Woodstock.

Tags: boston pops, boston symphony orchestra, bso, delaware and hudson, hudson, hudson river, james taylor, john williams, keith lockhart, kingston, lenox, motorcycle, route 209, stockbridge, tanglewood, trike, woodstock, yo-yo ma