Jordan Brand Classic

the Jordan Brand Classic

the entrance to

I know that most people believe that the college basketball season is over but I am from Kentucky, and that means that college basketball is never over.  There is basketball season, and then there is getting ready for next season. 

Signs courtesy of Bruce and his family

Signs in action

A week ago the UK Alumni Association, the group I watch all the games with, organized an event to watch the Jordan Brand Classic and welcome our incoming Kentucky players.  Bruce and his parents made some awesome signs, and we went out to the Barclays center to let these kids know they had support behind them.  We also made a sign and cheered for Wiggins too so that he could feel the support of the Big Blue Nation. 

Me during the warmups

The game was a dunk-fest, as are all national high school all-star games.  It was still awesome to watch the raw athletic abilities of these kids on the floor.  Julius Randle, who is coming to Kentucky, was a co MVP of the game with 19 points, and showed an amazing skill set.  We were also lucky enough to sit next to Dakari Johnson’s family and show them the support we would be giving him next year.  After the game he came up to hug his family and then came over to the fan group and gave hugs and high fives.  Miles gave him a high five and it looked like he was slapping hands with a baseball met.  Can’t wait to see him work his magic as a center for Kentucky next year!  Go Big Blue baby!

Then some guy named Drake performed but I only wanted to cover important things.

-SM-
Please comment, favorite or subscribe to the blog, and friend spike on Facebook, if you have not already. His page is http://www.facebook.com/spikemiller.adventure

A Rock n Roll Adventure

Ok first things first go to this link and start playing one of these songs as you read this post.

http://soundcloud.com/dead-rocking-horse/sets/the-dead-rocking-horse-ep/

L to R-David on bass, Jacqueline on violin, Julio on drums,
 and Marron on vocals/guitar

You may or may not know it, but Saturday night in New York City is only dull if you want it to be.  There is literally everything imaginable going on.  A person could realistically get overloaded trying to decide what to do, but this last Saturday Miles and I had no such problem.  The choice of activity was a very easy one.  One of our dear friends is the lead singer for the band Dead Rocking Horse, and they were playing in the Bowery Ballroom!!  Now the Bowery Ballroom is THE New York music venue, everything awesome in the New York music scene goes through it.  It is the goal of many the aspiring young musician. 

Me and the gorgeous singer/guitarist Marron

That evening we met up with Meg and after a brief stop at Snack Dragon for some dinner we headed to the show.   Dead Rocking Horse, along with some other bands, was opening for Panzie and Star Killer.   They kicked off the show at about 7:45 and they immediately set the bar high.  To me they are a band reminiscent of old rock n roll, back when the instrumentals were awesome, and the lyrics carried amazing stories.  They started the set with “Down the Mountain”, which immediately breaks into an amazing rhythm and got everyone all pumped up.  They also played one of my personal favorites “Whiskey and Water”; it is a beautiful, almost soft, song which they have further differentiated by the addition of an electric violin.  Thank you to Dead Rocking Horse for kicking off a night of great music and awesome friends.  We are looking forward to seeing another show in the future!

Eric stepped on to play the guitar for one cover song

Also very special thanks to Marron and Jacqueline for inviting us to the event, and to Eli for sharing his photography with the blog.  Check out the band at the soundcloud link listed above, or at their facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/DeadRockingHorse?ref=ts&fref=ts.  And check out Eli the photographer at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eliseu-Cavalcante-Photography/392960040778997.



An amazing voice, and photograph!!

 -SM-
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Please comment, favorite or subscribe to the blog, and friend spike on Facebook, if you have not already. His page is http://www.facebook.com/spikemiller.adventure

Scope Art Fair

Well dear friends and followers, the Scope Art Fair was in NYC last week.  I have written about Scope before, it is the festival that Miles built in Switzerland.  In a way it was the building of Scope that kicked off this whole blog.  Scope was the reason I traveled to Europe last year, and the traveling to Europe is the reason I started the blog. 

We got your disease.



STAR WARS!!!
-Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, Fl



I was, needless to say, excited to see the festival again, this time it had a New York feel to it.  There were lots of New York galleries showing work here, although I did see some old friends from Switzerland as I wandered around.  The art was again, as it always is, an exemplary example of diversity; so rather than keeping you waiting by dolling on about it I shall simply show you the pictures from the event. 

This is both 3-D and 2-D

 

Took a visit to the supermarket

Truth in advertising??

Kinda scary, yet captivating
Reaves Projects, NYC

Some new friends, I think I shall not share kool-aid with them.

I'll give you a hint.  There was not a full railroad track installed just for the event.

Add me on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/#!/spike.miller.106

-SM-

Please comment, favorite or subscribe to the blog, and friend spike on Facebook, if you have not already. His page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/spike.miller.106
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A One Man Band

After living in New York for over four years Miles and I have become rather jaded to the strange carrying ons in the city sometimes.  We have developed the armor of unimpressed and simply walk on by.  Occasionally, however, there is something so odd that even our jaded selves have no choice but to stop and stare. 

This was the case last week when, entering the subway, we witnessed a man performing as a one man band.  He had a banjo for his main instrument, which automatically made him cool in my book.  Then he had a backpack on which appeared to be adorned with almost every other possible musical device known to man.  Each of these devices was connected via strings to some part of the musician so that depending on how he moved he created different sounds.

It was really quite a wonder.  I don’t expect to see him selling out the Garden any time soon, but he was impressive for a subway performance.  He had the right mixture of unusual and fun.

I can't seem to upload the video I had taken so if you would like to see this guy in action please check out this youtube video I found for you.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJbxuExMito

-SM-

Please comment, favorite or subscribe to the blog, and friend spike on Facebook, if you have not already. His page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/spike.miller.106.

New Digs

Hey there dear friends, the oppressing cold has started to show signs of relenting so that means I may venture out for some new stories!  Actually it would be wrong of me to fail to inform you that I have material for two new posts as we speak.  Hopefully I will be able to get them up in this week. 

What I would like to say right now is that I now have a cool new shirt to rock.  A couple days ago for my birthday I was gifted an awesome Kentucky tee shirt in honor of my being a huge Kentucky basketball fan.  Here is a new picture for you to check it out in. 

Saw an awesome picture on the side of MSG of last years National Championship team, so I had to take this.

Please check back in to see the upcoming posts of, "The One Man Band", and "Scope Art Fair NYC".

-SM-

Please comment, favorite or subscribe to the blog, and friend spike on Facebook, if you have not already. His page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/spike.miller.106.

Holiday Update

Well, my dear friends, it has been a while since I have been here.   The end of the year Miles of course always gets slammed with catering work.  Since he was working seven days a week usually he neglected his duties as my typist.  Seriously, have you ever tried typing with paws?  It takes hunt and peck to a whole new level.  Now though we have nothing but time.

Looking out at the Freedom Tower at night

and looking at it during the day

There have been some cool things that have transpired since our last update.  One of Miles jobs took him to the 80^th floor of the Empire State Building; at four in the morning, no less.   Outside of the massive windows there were lights off in every direction.  The sunrise from the top of Manhattan is a sight to behold, as is the city in general. 

We also managed at some point in time (probably either on the way to a job, or after one) to take some Christmas pictures in the city.  We, of course, visited the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Centre.  We also browsed past the skating rink in Bryant Park.



One of New Yorks many skating rinks



The New York Christmas tree

To cap everything off we were lucky enough to take a nice vacation home to Kentucky for the holidays.  It was a nice fifteen day breather away from the hustle and bustle of the city; a nice time to just relax and recharge. 

Our Christmas tree at home

 I think that brings you up to date, and if it ever stops being freezing cold here we may get back to adventuring again.  Or maybe we will luck out and get some trip to Miami or the Caribbean, hey a dog can dream.

-SM-

Please comment, favorite or subscribe to the blog, and friend spike on Facebook, if you have not already. His page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/spike.miller

That Lucky Dog

Hey there friends, boy do I have a story for you today.  Last Friday night was the first game of the season for the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team, and they had their opening game in the new Barclays Centre in Brooklyn New York.  Naturally with Miles and I, being from Ky, and being huge fans, had to go.  Miles decided to treat himself and bought a really good ticket on the 20^th row behind the basket.  The night of the game he got decked out in his UK tee shirt and hat, and a pair of white skinny jeans; with me in his pocket we all set out to enjoy an evening of college basketball. 

Dog cheering on Cats what has the world come to

Barclays centre AKA the house that Jay Z built

Upon arrival at the stadium, the girl who scanned our ticket informed us we were going to have to be moved.  I could see the hair raise on the back of Miles neck as he felt the precious ticket he had purchased threatened by this mysterious “moving.”  We proceeded to the table we were directed to.  Once there, we explained what we were told to the gentleman behind the table.  He looked at us, then at our ticket, and then he agreed that they would have to move us, but he said they were going to upgrade us!  Now Miles was a little more excited.  He leafed through a stack of tickets and said, “how about I put you on the side of the court in row 1 seat 1?”  Well we about fell down from shock as adrenaline rushed through our body, this was too good to be true.  With our new ticket in hand, we advanced to our new seat. 

The seat was awesome!

 The next big shock was to come right before the tip off of the UK Maryland game.  The stadium was filling with fans as we reveled in our front row seats we were approached by one of the entertainment promoters for the arena.  The girl informed Miles that they needed a Kentucky fan to compete in a contest on the floor, and asked if he would like to do it.  Now Miles has never really been described as good at basketball, and I could see the apprehension play across his face, but I could also see excitement and the thirst for adventure.  After thinking for a second he agreed.  Just a little bit into the first half he was taken from his seat, and escorted back behind one of the baskets.  At the under eight minute media time out the promo team took the floor.  This was to be a shooting contest; the contestant could shoot a layup worth one point, a free throw worth three points, and a three pointer worth five points.  After each shot attempt the contestant had to change shooting location.  Miles waved to the crowd as he was announced and then took his position at the layup marker.  He had expressed a fear of getting over agitated and shooting a brick for his layup, but later explained that due to modeling experiences and being in front of crowds he became calm on the floor.  The buzzer rang and he put up his first layup… and it went in!  Bouncing excitedly out to the free throw line, he executed his second shot attempt.  The free throw went in as well.  There was another layup and another free throw that were completed, and a three pointer and a free throw missed, in the remainder of the 30 seconds alloted time.  This gave Miles a total score of 8 which was enough to make him the winner, for which he received a nice gift card.  He also became a minor celebrity of the Kentucky crowd and was congratulated by many wonderful fans, both at the game, and at Jack Demsey’s, the official UK bar in NYC. 

Miles shooting ball on the Barclays centre court during a UK
in front of 18,000 people!!

Upon hearing the story retold at the bar Vinny, the owner of Demsey’s, expressed dismay that Miles had not been wearing a Jack Demsey’s UK shirt on the court.  To this Miles countered that he still didn’t have such a shirt, the oversight on both parts was hastily corrected.  So all in all Miles and I pretty much had the best night ever.  You could even say we together are a lucky dog.  Also for the record this is probably the only situation where you will find a dog cheering for a bunch of cats, but hey UK is special what can I say. 

With all this being said there are two things that made both Miles and I extremely proud that night.  The first was the fact that UK did pull off a win on their season opener, but the second is far more important.  The day previously, the UK basketball team had hosted a fund raiser telethon to raise money for hurricane sandy relief.  Before the game the basketball team, on the behalf of the University of Kentucky, and the state of Kentucky, presented the New York Red Cross with a check for one million dollars.  That is something that can make you very proud of where you come from and what you stand for.  Thank you to my home state for making that positive change in the world and the Kentucky Wildcats for facilitating that positivity. 

A $1,000,000 check given by the Kentucky
Wildcats to the New York Red Cross

Miles and I had a lucky night

GO BIG BLUE!!!

-SM-

Please comment, favorite or subscribe to the blog, and friend spike on Facebook, if you have not already. His page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/spike.miller.106
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