Sunsets

Sunsets. We get some nice ones here in Southwest Florida.

Yesterday Carolyn and Cody and I went out into the Gulf of Mexico for a first-ever sunset cruise on Rambler II. Carolyn and I tried to do the same thing Saturday but the conditions in the Gulf were not conducive to a comfortable sunset cruise.

The conditions in the Gulf on Monday were much better. We dropped an anchor in shallow water, knowing that the tide was coming while we were on the beach. We had some cocktails and waited for sunset.

We took Mabel The Rescue too, who has proven to be a first rate Boat Dog and adequate crew member.

So, here is what we experienced yesterday evening.

John P. Needham

November 21, 2023

Naples, FL

Rambler II

When I was growing up in Chicago, my ol' man had a gorgeous 28 foot Pearson sloop in Lake Michigan. It was named Rambler. The name came from the Loyola Academy High School Ramblers, where one of my brothers played football and ran track, and where me and another brother ran cross country and track.

He had that boat for only a few years. I loved sailing it, learning about sailing, learning nautical terms, learning nautical knots, things like that.

When we moved to Naples, FL Carolyn and I thought about getting a boat. I even casually shopped online for local sailboats. Found a few. But I knew that getting a sail boat probably wasn't the best idea. Taking a sailboat even on just a day sail is a large undertaking. Especially here in Naples, with bridges, shallow water, and crazy winds.

Besides, “sailing” isn't really what Carolyn and I like to do on boats. Our preferences lean more towards driving to beaches, sandbars and local waterfront restaurants. None of those would be options in a typical sailboat.

So, we joined Freedom Boat Club instead. That gave us a chance to use power boats: center consoles, bowriders, deck boats, and pontoons.

We became moderately competent novice boaters. We did the things we enjoyed. I took the Coast Guard Safe Boating class up in Fort Meyers, and Carolyn is going to do the same thing.

But Freedom Boat Club was also a little limiting. We had to have the boats back to the dock before sunset, so sunset cruises were out of the question. And in high season here in SW Florida, it was very difficult to get a boat on weekends.

So after a year of boating at Freedom Boat Club, Carolyn and I took the plunge and got a boat of our own.

We christened her Rambler II.

John P. Needham

February 28, 2023

Bayshore Drive

Naples, FL

Hurricane Ian

On September 28th, hurricane Ian blew through the southwest Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ian followed the path of a devastating storm in 2004, hurricane Charlie. There were two big differences between Ian and Charlie:

• Charlie came past Naples heading north and made landfall around Punta Gorda, and the storm last around five hours; in contrast, Ian passed Naples and also made landfall around Punta Gorda, but it lasted for roughly 12 hours. Ian was offshore of Naples from low tide all the way through high tide, which dramatically increased the size of the storm surge.

• Ian also was a monster-sized storm: the entire wind field from Charlie would have fit into just the eye of hurricane Ian. When I woke up on Wednesday morning, the eye of Ian was just off the coast of Naples, but the wind field extended all the way from Key West to Sarasota.

We lost power at 10:15AM Wednesday and it did not come back until overnight on Friday. Of course, all the cell towers in SWFL also were blown down so we had extremely limited cellular service too. We still don't have good drinking water a week later.

Below are some images I took during and after the storm. Just posting them for posterity's sake.

John P. Needham

October 4th, 2022

5:25PM

Naples, FL

Father's Day 2020

On Father’s Day I usually re-post my post from nine years ago, but I saw this on Facebook via my brother Tom Needham so I figured I’d share this instead. I’ll let him tell this story.

"They Patrol Outfield" - this was in one of the Chicago newspapers during the summer of 1956. My Dad is on the right. He was a rookie Chicago police officer and the Department had a baseball team that he played on. They played two games that summer against a U.S. Navy team (one at Wrigley and the other at Comiskey) and one of the Navy pitchers was Johnny Podres. He was the star of the World Series the year before, in 1955, when the Brooklyn Dodgers won their only championship. Then he had to go into the service for a year, that's how it was back then. I don't know if Dad was able to get a hit off Podres, this old newspaper clip didn't have a box score and of course Dad didn't talk much about it.

John P. Needham

Father’s Day, June 21st, 2020

Spring, TX

Memorial Day 2020

Taps, performed as a Memorial Day remembrance by two local young men, former members of the Klein Oak HS band. One is Luke Tebo from the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, the other is John Bailey Needham from VA Tech's Spirit of Tech Marching Virginians.

John P. Needham

Spring, TX

May 25, 2020 730PM

Senior Recognition Night for Cody

Last night was Senior Recognition Night for Klein Oak Band, a night when the band program, and the school, recognize the contributions of the band seniors, who have been in the program for four years. Among the honorees was Cody, our percussionist, who started in pit as a freshman, then joined drum line as a sophomore and played bass drum for the final three years of his marching career.

Cody is going on to a Division III college with no football program, nor a marching band, so this was his final recognition for his marching career. He has one more marching contest - the BOA San Antonio super-regional this coming Saturday, and has a handful of football games left: one more regular season game, then the playoffs, so his marching career is truly winding down.

It was also the final Klein Oak senior recognition night for me and Carolyn, alas. So our time as band parents is winding down too.

Both our sons had truly wonderful experiences as members of Klein Oak Band. We are profoundly grateful that they were both able to participate in this excellent program.

And, we’ve said this before, and it is just as true now: we are very, very proud of the young man that Cody Needham has become. Some additional photos:

John P. Needham

Sunday, October 27, 2019

3PM Central Time

Spring, TX

Historical Documents

These are pretty cool, came to me via my little sister Megan Roach who got them as part of her search on ancestry.com. Semi-related fun fact: based on Megan’s submission to that site, our family includes some 3% European Jewish ancestry.

This first document is the passenger manifest from the S.S. Leviathan on which my paternal grandfather, John Needham (after whom I was named), sailed to America. He had listed his birthplace and hometown as Doohoma in County Mayo, Ireland, which I think was transcribed as Doohorne on the manifest. S.S. Leviathan left the port of Southampton in the United Kingdom on October 12, 1926. Another fun fact: the S.S. Leviathan was originally a German ship called Vaterland that was seized by the United States in 1917 and was renamed Leviathan. John Needham is listed near the bottom of this page of the passenger manifest and listed his Calling or Occupation as “Labourer.”

The next document is John Needham’s Petition for American citizenship, dated February 8, 1934. It was witnessed by John O’Farrell and John F. Donovan in Chicago, lists John Needham’s wife as Mary (nee O’Malley) of Stirling, Scotland. Mary O’Malley was born in Scotland when her father was stationed there in the British Army, but, I am told, was sent, when she was a baby, to Doohoma to be raised by relatives.

The application for citizenship also lists three sons born to the couple, John and Mary: Michael Needham (my uncle, currently living in Truckee, CA), John Needham (my Uncle Jack, also my godfather, RIP) and Patrick Needham (my father, RIP). This family would go on to add four more children: Phelim (RIP), Jerry (RIP), Kathleen and Ellen.

Finally, here is a 1940 United States census document which lists (top of the page) John Needham as head of household, Mary as his wife, and the first five children, all sons. This document is undated, but was filled out in Chicago’s 45th ward in Cook County. What’s amazing to me here is that census documents were, at that time, all filled out and counted manually.

My sister Meggie continues her searches, and if anything interesting comes up, and she wants me to share it, I’ll post it here.

John P. Needham

Spring, TX

October 21, 2019

Homecoming, 2019 (Cody)

Just some pictures of Cody and Kayla that we took at a local arboretum.

John P. Needham

October 12, 2019

7:30AM

Spring, TX

Drum Line Rules!

Klein Oak Drum Line, October 10, 2019, Spring, TX

John P. Needham

Spring, TX

October 11, 2019

Klein Oak Wind Ensemble - Winter Concert

Last night the Klein Oak Wind Ensemble performed their annual Winter Convert, along with KOHS Jazz Band, the new KOHS Woodwinds Octet, Klein Oak’s Symphonic I band and local a middle-school’s (Krimmel) band. This is always a super-fun event and last night was no exception. Below are the videos of Wond Ensemble. I also have videos of Jazz Band and Woodwinds Octet, so if any parents want to see those, just let me know and I’ll share them with you.

Wind Ensemble started with Dream of the Silent Night:

KOHS Wind Ensemble, Dreams of the Silent Night, performed December 12, 2018

They continued with The Sussex Mummers Christmas Carol:

KOHS Wind Ensemble, The Sussex Mummers Christmas Carol, performed December 12, 2018

The ensemble closed with their traditional winter concert close: Sleigh Ride. Look for Cody whacking wood planks on this one, it is one of the most important parts of the whole piece, to be honest!

KOHS Wind Ensemble, Sleigh Ride, performed December 12, 2018

John P. Needham

December 13, 2018

Spring, TX

The 2018 Marching Season

So, yeah. I’ve been pretty much missing around here lately. That’s plainly obvious.

We’ve been busy with the kids, and marching band season. Plus, inertia. Entropy. Okay, laziness.

We’re mostly through the marching season: the Klein Oak Band has played all the football games so far, and there are a few more left before the playoffs, but generally the band does not march for playoff games. They’ve played in one marching contest so fat, and have another one tonight (Area UIL) and another contest Saturday (UIL again, assuming the band qualifies tonight). Then the big one in San Antonio: BOA (Bands of America).

As most know so far from Facebook, Twitter, and IG, we have two sons in Klein Oak Band: one, John Bailey, is a Drum Major, the other, Cody, is on Bass Drum 3. So here are a few images from the season so far.

Well, I think that catches us up, for now. I’ll try to do better, maintaining this website. No promises, except to promise to try.

John P. Needham

October 23, 2018

Spring, TX

Mariachi Band - Final 2017/2018 Concert

I am WAY behind in posting this, and I'm genuinely sorry about that! The Klein Oak Mariachi Band had their final concert of the 2017/18 school year back in May. It was really nice, held in the KOHS band hall, the ensemble members, their friends and families, a low-key, super-fun event.

Below are some videos of the show.

These talented and  motivated young musicians had a great year during the 2017/18 school year. Among other things, they were the first mariachi ensemble from from any Klein ISD school to qualify for, and participate in, the Texas State Mariachi Festival. 

It  would be hard to overstate how proud everyone is of these young musicians. For many of them, this was the final performance, as they have graduated and are moving on to college and other things. Those that remain are back-filling the ensemble and getting ready for another excellent year of mariachi music. We look forward to what the ensemble does in 2018/2018.

John Needham

Spring, TX

(posting from Chicago, IL)

June 26, 2018

Concerto Competition

I can't believe I neglected to post this. Apologies to Bailey for the delay. But...Bailey played in te Klein Oak HS Concerto Competition earlier this month. Below is his performance (a 6:47 video). 

I guess by now it won't surprise anyone to learn: we thought Bailey did great, we're very proud of his growth this year. He really has developed this skill in an amazing way. 

Anyway, here is the video - the hilarious part is when he introduced himself as "John Needham" which is generally how he is known at school, even though we still call him Bailey here at home:

Uploaded by John Needham on 2018-05-05.

John P. Needham

May 23, 2017

Spring, TX

Mariachi Ole!

C'mon, you knew this was coming, right? After all the still pictures from this weekend's Texas State Mariachi Festival, you knew there would be some videos of the Klein Oak High School Mariachi Band, right? I didn't take these videos, but another person did, and gave me permission to post them to You Tube. 

KOHS Mariachi Band was the first school from the whole Klein school district to qualify for the state mariachi festival. While a lot of schools were playing new, modern takes on mariachi music, with lots of stagecraft, KOHS Mariachi Band just played traditional mariachi music with little fanfare. It was a really well-received performance, to be sure. Take a look at how the crowd responded. They opened with Guadalajara:

Guadalajara, performed by the Klein Oak High School Mariachi Band, February 23, 2018 at the Texas State High School Mariachi Festival in Edinburgh, TX.

The next song they performed was El Rey. This is where the audience really started to respond.

El Rey, performed by the Klein Oak High School Mariachi Band, February 23, 2018 at the Texas State High School Mariachi Festival in Edinburgh, TX.

The band closed their set with No Me Se Rajar, which inspired the audience even more.

No Me Se Rajar, performed by the Klein Oak High School Mariachi Band, February 23, 2018 at the Texas State High School Mariachi Festival in Edinburgh, TX.

This was a genuinely extraordinary experience for these talented and hard-working young musicians. They walked off the stage with their feet barely touching the ground. 

And we parents were all profoundly proud of these kids.

John P. Needham

February 27, 2018

Spring, TX

Marching Season Wrap-Up, 2017

Just a couple of images from the final football game of the 2017 season. With marching season winding down, and contests all in the rear-view mirror, and the final game the day after Thanksgiving in College Station, the number of band kids who showed up to play was pretty small. Bailey and Cody were both there. I got this image of them in the stands, Cody in the foreground on bass drum, Bailey behind him on trumpet.

Cody in front on bass drum, Bailey behind on trumpet

Cody had wrapped his drum sticks up in red tape so they looked like candy canes, and he also had our Elf on the Shelf, Bob, mounted on the top of his drum:

Cody on bass drum, accompanied by Bob The Elf.

Bob The Elf and Cody's drum sticks

One last picture of Bailey:

Bailey on trumpet

That's all for now.

John P. Needham

November 28, 2017

Spring, TX

Bangarang!

Please allow me this "proud band dad" moment.

Since the beginning of August, Bailey and Cody and the rest of Klein Oak High School's marching band have been practicing, working really hard, on the 2017 competition show. They practiced in heat, they practiced many mornings, may late nights, weekends, after school, at football games, in competitions. 

Cody is on bass-4 bass drum; Bailey plays trumpet.

This weekend, all their hard work paid off. The band participated in Bands of America super-regional competition in San Antonio. It was far and away their best show of the season. 

The competition at the super-regional is very steep; some 75 bands competed in prelims over two days, and only 114 made the finals Saturday night. Klein  Oak Band did not make the finals, unfortunately. But that doesn't not take away from their achievement. This year's show, called Bangarang, was terrific, and the kids performed spectacularly in the prelims.

Another of the band parents was able to record the show, and uploaded it to You Tubs. I am embedding the video below. Take a look at let me know what you think!

The show I'm not supposed to record...

We are very proud of our kids and all the band members; other parents I spoke with feel exactly the same way. These kids all worked so hard, for so many hours, over months, and for the show to come together this well, at this competition, was really special to see.

John P. Needham

November 5, 2017

Spring, TX

Homecoming, 2017 (Cody)

I've been away from this blog for far, far, too long. Apologies for that little hiatus!

Last weekend Cody went to Homecoming at his high-school. Here are a few images.

If you want, you can find the full set here in Flickr.

John P. Needham

November 5, 2017

Spring, TX

Klein Oak Masterworks Concert - May 22, 2017

Earlier this month, the top performers from Klein Oak's band, choir and orchestra performed their annual Masterworks performance. I recorded the whole concert, but many of the pieces are covered by copyright protections so I'm not posting those here (or to You Tube). 

Here are two pieces that I can post. First, the Klein Oak Wind Ensemble opened the concert with this piece, a stunning 14-minute piece that I know these young musicians worked so hard on. This is a 14-minute video and Bailey is performing on trumpet.

Next is the Klein Oak Choir. This is a four-minute+ video.

That's all I'm going to share from this night, since I am pretty sure the next five pieces that were performed, jointly, by the Wind Ensemble, the Choir and the Orchestra, are all covered by copyright protection held by the composer. 

The concert was genuinely amazing, these young performers worked for months to perfect these pieces and they all did a fabulous job.

John P. Needham

May 29, 2017

1:25PM

Spring, TX

Piano Recital - Bailey, May 2017

This one made Carolyn cry. I unfortunately had to miss it, traveling for business, but Carolyn recorded it for me, and here is the video (six minute video).

John Needham

Spring, TX

May 29, 2017

10:20AM

Sixteen

Wow. John Bailey Needham turned sixteen yesterday. Naturally, that means it is time to post some new images.

Here he is at sixteen. 

I stiched a few images together to post to FB so here are those now too.

And this one...

Finally, this last image - Carolyn made her chocolate chip cheesecake with caramel topping. This was at the request of the birthday boy.

Bay had a good day. But us, his parents, wow. We could not be more proud of the young man that Bailey has become, and continues to grow into. 

John P. Needham

Spring, TX

January 13, 2017