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Archives for 2006

Little Miss Sunshine

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Little Miss SunshineView the trailer

Little Miss Sunshine, from Fox Searchlight Pictures, is the must-see movie of the year. It has to be one of the funniest but touching movies I have ever seen. One of the funniest parts of the movie wasn’t even a character, but a sound. I won’t spill the beans here but suffice to say, this movie is going to win some awards.

The movie stars Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano and Abagail Breslin as Olive.

Little Miss Sunshine introduces us to the dysfunctional family, the Hoovers. It follows their quest to get Olive, their young daughter to Redondo Beach, California in time for the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant by driving hundreds of miles in a VW mini-bus. You may soon begin to realize that this “dysfunctional” family may more accurately portray a typical family than you might imagine.

The screenplay is excellent. Alan Arkin is brilliant as the Grandfather and gives a performance that is absolutely hilarious. Greg Kinnear is the Father and is equally stellar. Paul Dano is Dwayne, the rebellious son. Steve Carell (one of the funniest actors around) has a delightful role as the Uncle and his understated comedic performance won’t disappoint you. Toni Collette, is perfectly cast as the Mother and the adorable Abagail Breslin plays Olive, perhpas the most normal member of the family. Her innocence and sensitivity is wonderful to experience.

This is a move that I plan on seeing again as soon as I can fit it in. It has a great soundtrack, consistent momentum and the last 30 minutes will make you want to laugh and cry, probably simultaneously (that was my experience anyway).

New York State Festival of Balloons

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My Labor Day weekend was spent with my wife and in-laws. Part of our time was spent in Dansville, NY for the New York State Festival of Balloons.

Our plan was to watch the balloon launch Monday night at 6:00pm. We arrived right on time and there were quite a few balloons being inflated, but due to the inclement weather only one balloon actually lifted off untethered. We decided to try our luck again the next morning.

The alarm went off at 5:00am and we hopped in the car and drove back up to the Dansville airport. When we arrived, it looked like the weather was going to prevent the launching again. We stood around for about 30 minutes waiting to see some activity where the balloonists usually prepare to lift-off. But seeing no activity we decided to call it quits and drive back home. Just as we had gotten back on the highway, we had second thoughts and figured since this was the last day of the festival, that maybe we should stick around for a little while longer. We turned around and we headed to McDonalds to have breakfast and wait a while longer. As we were discussing whether we should just drive back home if the weather didn’t improve, we overheard a few people saying that the balloons were launching. We went outside and were greeted with the magnificent sight of 8 Hot Air Balloons lifting off. Here is a photo of us (minus me. There is a reason I take the photos you know!) looking pretty at 6am in the morning.
Linda and my in-laws

And the liftoff of the balloons…
Hot Air Balloons Lifting Off

I counted 22 balloons in the air and there may have been as many as 25. It was really interesting to see how the wind currents took some of them in one direction while others headed off in another direction. Apparently the wind in Dansville can swirl because of the surrounding hills making things a little unpredictable.

After all the balloons had become airborne, we decided to leave. We soon noticed a ReMax balloon headed in the same direction we were going on our way back to Wayland, so we decided to track the balloon and took off on backroads trying to watch its eventual landing. Here is a series of photos which shows our adventure.
ReMax at altitude
ReMax in flight
Tracking ReMax in flight
ReMax coming down
ReMax coming down
ReMax on ground
ReMax deflating
Traditionally, when a Hot Air Balloon lands on your property, the crew gives the land-owners a bottle of champagne as a gesture of thanks for allowing them to land. As it turns out, the balloon landed within about 100 feet of my father-in-laws property. Darn! So close, yet so far to a bottle of champagne. It sure was fun watching the balloons and something you should consider doing in the future. the Balloon Festival is Labor Day weekend every year in Dansville, NY.

New York State Fair

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It’s been a busy week for me at the NYS Fair. Busy eating too much, walking too much and eating too much. This year I bought pre-sale tickets and parking passes in order to save some bucks… you know, so I could spend it on Fair essentials like food. I had the brilliant idea of buying the advance sale parking passes so that I could park closer to the main gate. Why I was thinking this I do not know. All I do know is that when I parked at the Fair using my parking pass, I ended up being directed to the absolutely farthest away parking spot available. I think I must have walked almost a mile to get to the end of the midway, than another 1/2 mile to get to my final destination, the Dinosaur BBQ tent. But I did finally make it and immediately had a Hot Sausage with peppers and onions. Yum!

After eating that way too quickly, it quickly became apparent that I was right across from where one of my favorite street performers was scheduled to begin his show. I’m referring of course to Hilby, the Skinny,German, Juggle Boy. This guy is hilarious and has a routine that appeals to all ages. His humor is very clever and although some of his jokes will skim right over the heads of kids, adults will end up howling with laughter. If you ever get a chance to see Hilby perform, don’t miss the opportunity. Here are a couple shots of Hilby taken at the State Fair on Thursday, August 31, 2006.
Hilby, The Sknny German Juggle Boy

After seeing Hilby, we walked a short distance to the Wine Court. It was nearing happy hour, so we decided we’d better taste a few wines and eat some cheese and crackers. After happy hour, it was a quick jaunt across the street to Chevrolet Court to see the Four Tops perform. They were just awesome. Click here to see a short movie of the Four Tops.

The show was about 40 minutes long. Every song was performed with great enthusiasm and they looked and sounded great!
The Four Tops

When the Four Tops had finished their show and since the fair is primarily about eating (from my point of view anyway), it was off to the International Food Pavilion for some Buffalo Chicken Gyros and a large piece of Baklavah. Belive it or not, that was topped off with an Apple Dumpling a la mode. Did I share any of this with my wife? Well, a little bit and rather reluctantly. Afterwards, we slowly made our way through food alley and past the Dairy Building. Wait a minute, did I say past the Dairy Building? I actually meant we walked into the Dairy Building so I could get my 2 glasses of cold, fresh chocolate milk while my wife got a chocotale covered banana. After that (with no room left in my belly for any more food), it was time to call it a day and begin the long trek back to the car and look forward to next years NYS Fair.

Celebrating my 3rd Anniversary

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August 23rd was my 3rd anniversary. My beautiful wife and I celebrated by visiting some great new friends of ours who live in Cincinnati, Ohio. Scott and Maria Crawford operate the Gaslight B&B, one of the most beautiful B&B’s we’ve ever stayed in. Maria cooks the most delicious breakfasts and the house is just fantastic. It’s located in Clifton, right in the middle of the Gaslight District of Cincinnati, near the University. If you ever find yourself going to Cincinnati and are looking for excellent accommodations, make sure to check out the Gaslight B&B. You’ll also find Ohio a great place to buy gasoline…it was only $2.56/gallon for unleaded regular vs $3.06/gallon when we got back to New York. Gotta love New York State taxes.

Gaslight B&B, Clifton, Ohio

We love the Gaslight District of Cincinnati. One of our favorite restaurants there is Biaggio’s (great Italian food). We also like to go to Dewey’s Pizza for a more casual eating extravaganza. And of course, no visit would be complete without a stop at Graeter’s Ice Cream in Clifton. Homemade ice cream that is as good as it gets and they do mail-order!

One of the days we were there was spent at the United States Air Force Museum. The museum is located at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. It’s about an hour drive from Cincinnati. It is an excellent museum and there are so many planes on display that it is quite difficult to see the entire museum in just one day. We only had 4 hours so a return trip is something I’ll schedule in the future.

One of the exhibits that is really interesting is the Presidential Plane hangar where the recently retired Air Force One is on display. Walking through the plane is pretty cool and there are several other Presidential planes in the exhibit that are open for walk-through inspection.

I’ve always been interested in planes and my wife is a flight attendant, so this trip was very enjoyable for both of us. One of the more intriguing displays was of the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber. What an awesome plane to view. Here is a photo of it…
B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber

A great lineup of friends…

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This has been a fantastic summer. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the summer of 2006 has been meeting new people and developing new friendships. In particular, I have really established an excellent relationship with some fellow wedding professionals. Frank DiMeo, Luke Waliker, Bob Kaussner, Marybeth Longo and Brady Dillsworth.

Frank, Luke, Bob and Brady are wedding photographers; some very talented photographers I might add. Marybeth Longo is an excellent videographer and owns Video Network, Inc. Her work is fantastic!

Our little group got together at Marybeth’s cottage which is located in a very beautiful area knows as Sackets Harbor. Sackets Harbor is on Lake Ontario and is essentially the gateway to the Thousand Islands area of New York State. It was a beautiful, relaxing day and a great opportunity to network and enjoy each others company.

Marybeth grilled some awesome chicken and some smokin’ corn-on-the-cob flambé. For those of you who don’t know what corn-on-the-cob flambé is, let me explain. Corn-on-the-cob flambé is corn which you grill. If you grill it at a hot enough temperature for a long enough period of time, presto change-o, you get corn-on-the-cob flambé. It really is a sight to behold… big ears of corn, smoking beautifully on the serving platter. It’s really very easy to eat too…after you blow out the flames and wave away the smoke. Tasty too!

A great line-up of friends!

Left to right: Brady Dillsworth, Michael Erb, Marybeth Longo, Robert Kaussner, Frank DiMeo, Luke Walker

Welcome to Michael Erb’s Blog

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I’m really excited to finally get my blog started. I have always wanted to be able to share my experiences with clients, family and friends and the blog will enable me to do just that. Plus I get to share some photos from weddings that I’ve worked at and really whatever comes to mind. So please enjoy and give me your comments.

The photo in the masthead of my blog was taken during a February 2006 trip to Yosemite Park. I was coming down the mountain after an incredible day of X-C skiing amongst the giant sequoia trees and I was confronted with a magnificent sunset.