My First Girlfriend

This story is true, but the names have been changed to protect the innocent

When I was a young teenager in John Adams High School, I never thought about having a girlfriend. I was too busy with studying, practicing guitar and going to school. Don’t get me wrong I liked girls, but having a steady girlfriend never entered my mind until one day I bumped into this really cute girl on the way to class. I distinctly remember that it was the beginning of the new fall term and the new freshmen had arrived. You could always tell who the freshmen were. They looked like babies and they were always getting lost. Of course, I was a ‘mature16 year old junior’.

Her name was Rose. We started to see each other in the hall everyday at the same time. I finally had the nerve to ask her out. On our first date we went to a church dance, She wore a dark blue satin dress, with high heels. Her black hair was long and down. When I first picked her up at her house, my jaw dropped. She was beautiful. Now you may ask how can you date and go to school and practice and play music? That was the year I stopped practicing. Throughout the first two years of high school, my father kept telling me how dumb I was because my marks were not high enough. The truth is I didn’t care about my schoolwork. I was only in high school to have a good time, play football, play in the band and sing in the chorus. But I got fed up with his accusations. To prove to him that I could be as smart, I stopped practicing for one year and studied. That year I got a ninety-four average and proved I wasn’t stupid. So the year I stopped practicing was the year I met Rose and had time for a girlfriend. Before that I really didn’t have time to date even though I had started dating when I was eleven.

Yes! Eleven.

I loved to dance at weddings and I had always had a dancing partner at family affairs. My first partner was Helen. We weren’t romantically involved, we were much too young, but we had a great time dancing together. We were so good that whenever we danced the other dancers would form a circle around us and cheer us on. My cousin Al’s girlfriend and latter wife Lana had a sister Teresa who was a great dancer too. If she were at an affair (different side of the family) we would dance together. I loved going to weddings in those days because some of them were what we called ‘sandwich weddings’. There was no dinner, just different kinds of sandwiches. I loved eating all the different types of sandwiches and drinking the different sodas’. The music was always ‘live’ and they all seemed to play great Lindy’s. Even if it was a family wedding of distant cousins, I always found someone to dance with.

When I was eleven years old, we went to a wedding. Helen and Teresa weren’t there and I was miserable because I didn’t have a dancing partner. My mother would look around and she would point to a girl and say “ how about her?’ If there was something I didn’t like about her like, she was too tall, too fat etc. I wouldn’t ask her to dance. Shows you how stupid young people could be. There was this one girl at this wedding that I took a fancy to. Her name was Chicky. I asked her to dance. Well we had a great time. I thought I would never see her again, but low and behold there she was in my class, the first day I attended St.Anthony’s Catholic School.

The church’s fall dance was coming up and I asked her out on a date. She asked her parents and they said yes. Of course her aunt came along as a chaperon to keep an eye on us. Believe me my intentions were honorable. All I wanted to do was dance. Now if I were twelve, it would have been a different story. My hormones would have been popping and I probably would have been embarrassed the whole time. What a difference a year could make.

Getting back to my girlfriend, Rose. Having a girlfriend was great. I would walk her home from school carrying her books. We talked about everything. Of course my parents had a fit. “A girlfriend! You’re too young to have a girlfriend “. The one thing my parents couldn’t argue about with me was that she wasn’t Italian. If I had to have a girlfriend, at least she was Italian!

By the time I turned seventeen, I had grown a lot and looked much older than my years. I also had become very serious about life and it’s meaning and all the crap the Catholic Church and my parents had fed me. I would sit on our front stoop all the time and look up at the stars and wonder what it was all about as I still do, but without the stoop.

When I entered my Senior Year, I was voted Senior class President. I was working every weekend and had been a professional musician, (union card since I was fifteen) and was starting to play in nightclubs too. I performed at every school function including the Senior Class Talent Show, the Accappella Chorus and I constantly practiced.

At the last show of my senior year, my band was performing and I was also backing up a singer while a ballet dancer danced. If I had to say so myself it was very classy. During rehearsals, everything was fine. During the performance with the singer, my amplifier was on, but not a sound came out. I thought it might be my guitar wire. I kept an extra one in my pocket just in case this would happen. I took the extra wire out, but it was all tangled up. I tried to untangle it, while the audience looked on and laughed. I was so embarrassed I finally gave up. One of the stagehands put a microphone next to the guitar and the performance went on. When checking the amp after the show, I saw that a tube had fallen out of its socket. Talking about my embarrassing moment, Rose said it was not a big deal. That was the wrong thing to say to me. My ego couldn’t handle it. I wanted to be consoled. I was spending less time with Rose because of my practice routine and working and she didn’t like it. I knew it was time to end it. All my life, music had come first. There’s always a price to pay, but that’s another story. The way I broke up with Rose was awful and for many years I wished that some day I could apologize.

Senior Prom was coming up and of course I brought Rose. As it were in those days, the Prom was held in a hotel in the city. A group of my friends and I chipped in and rented a Limo to pick our dates and us up and drive to the Hotel. After the dance we went to the Hawaii Kai for drinks and a show. We were too young to drink alcoholic beverages, but they served us exotic looking drinks that looked real. The plan was to go back to Rose’s house, change clothes and then go to the beach.

The beach was cold and it was raining. We stayed under the boardwalk under a blanket. It took me a couple of hours for me to find the courage to break up with her, but I did. The bad part (it’s hard to write about this) was I left her there.

I got on a train and went home.

Yes, I know. I was a real bastard. My only defense is, I was young, stupid, thoughtless, mean and a coward.

There is a happy ending to this story.

Last year, feeling guilty and wishing I could apologize and through the magic of Facebook and the Internet, I found her.

I did apologize for my behavior. I told her how bad I felt. She remembered the break-up, but not how I did it. She did remember her white formal dress how much she loved it.

Can you imagine, I’ve been carrying this guilt around for over 50 years and she remembers the dress? She still has a baby face and she says she very happy and I am happy for her.

A few weeks after prom I graduated and a whole new chapter of my life began. And that’s another story.


Dom Minasi

It's Only My Opinion

It’s Only My Opinion

When I was much younger, I didn’t care about politics or anything that was happening around the world. I was too busy scuffling and trying to get enough music jobs to support my family. My two children, riddled with allergies, were in and out of the hospital due to asthma attacks. We had a landlord that refused to give us enough heat in the winter to be comfortable. During the sixties I was oblivious to drugs and rock and roll and the changes that were happening. As I stated earlier, politics and the state of the world were the least of my problems.

I didn’t start to vote till I was 28 years old. I really was naive about the government. I trusted everything they said and did. Even though I had split from the Catholic Church it never entered my mind that priests could turn out to be pedophiles. Now that I am much older I have become acutely aware of what is happening to us in the United States and the world. Sometimes I am so disgusted by what is happening, I wish I could leave, but that’s not up to me. Being abducted by Aliens, well, that may never happened so I have to stay and the only thing I can do is voice my opinion.

I know this will get some people angry, but this is only my opinion and this America and I do have the right to say it.

We, here in America, live a sheltered life. Yes! We have a high murder rate and Yes! There are children being abused and starving. And Yes! There are too many homeless people in the USA and bigotry and racism runs rampant throughout the states and congress. And Yes! There are too many guns on the streets and the corporations run or should I say ruined this country and our senior citizens may loose Medicare, gangs control the streets and woman’s rights are being dismantled piece by piece, but we still live a sheltered life. Look at what is happening around the world. Constant riots and killings in the streets. Millions killed. We have 911, but 911 is nothing to what is happening in other parts of the world. Some countries have a 911 everyday. If that happened here we would be paralyzed.

The families of the 911 victims have a say in everything that goes on at the World Trade Center sites and yet it is ten years later and hardly anything has been rebuilt. The families have to approve of everything that goes on there. Can you imagine if that were true in Israel. That country would be a land of rumble. They get attacked. People die. Buildings crumble and they move on. It’s that simple. We are locked into the past and we don’t move on.

Now that Bin Laden is dead, controversy is abounding. Is he really dead? Can we see the pictures’? Why didn’t we capture him so he could reveal all his secrets? Yeah, right! Will anything change now? Did the USA take the law in its own hands etc, etc.??? Enough! He’s dead. That’s what you wanted and got. Move on. We are like little babies crying because we can’t have it our own way. It’s time this country grows up and faces reality. We can’t always have what we want. Yes there are dangers around us, but we always protected ourselves and moved on and have gotten better for it.

What I’m hoping is that we as a country get better. What I mean by getting better is that we have more humanity in our thinking, our laws and the treatment of all races and our neighbors here and abroad. Is it too much to ask or expect? Our forefathers didn’t think so. Why can’t we? Have we been filled with so much hate and greed that we can’t change? If that is so, humanity is doomed and we ‘will reap what we sow’. Look around it’s already happening. Is that the world we want? I know I don’t, but that’s only my opinion.

Dom Minasi

Memories of My Mother

Memories of My Mother ( The Clean Version)


When I was young man and being of Italian heritage, I was expected by my parents to only date Italian girls and if and when I got married it was absolutely to be an Italian.

Like most young men in the late fifties-early sixties I hadn’t had sex till I was nineteen years old. Most of the boys, when younger, bragged about having these wild experiences, but they were only bragging and none of it was true.

When I was 19 and a full-time musician, I was playing with a band in a strip club on Long Island. While on a break, a tall older, woman about 28 came in and sat next to me at the bar. She looked at me and said: I want you!

Immediately I got hot and ready. She waited for me to finish the last set. She then scooped me up and drove me and my readiness to a motel. She paid for the room.

We got undressed, and I just lay there. She looked at me and asked if I had ever been with women? I told her no. Being a good catholic boy, I never even ‘copped a feel’. She was flabbergasted and totally amazed. She couldn’t believe she had the good fortune of breaking in a virgin

Hold on this is still about my mother.
I was so nervous, but this woman taught me a lot that night. In fact everything I ever wanted to know about sex that would last me a lifetime. We made love for hours. She was very fulfilled and couldn’t wait to tell her girlfriends and I couldn’t wait to tell mine.

Around 9AM she drove me to the Long Island Railroad and I went home.

Little did I know my parents were frantic. At six in the morning they called the bandleader, (who was my ride home), to find out what happened to me. He settled them down and told them I was with a woman.

The next day the bandleader recanted the phone conversation with my father.

Apparently when he told him I was with a woman, my father told my mother and he could hear her screaming, is she Italian?

Dom Minasi

One Day

It started with a whisper in the wind. You could hardly hear it. As people everywhere walked down the street they would suddenly turn as if someone tapped them on the shoulder. Strangers would ask the person in back of them, “what did you say”? And ultimately the reply was the same,” I didn’t say a thing. I thought it was you”. Each day the whisper got a little louder and the Voice became clearer and everyone throughout the world heard this Voice in his or her own language. And the Voice surrounded everything and said, “ Tell me why I shouldn’t destroy everything on Earth”?

Actors couldn’t recite their lines. Radio announcers couldn’t announce. The Voice was relentless. It didn’t stop. All anyone could hear in their I-pods, cell phones, computers, TV’s and radios was this constant voice. If there were human beings in far away and desolate places on earth, without any sort of electronic or battery communication devices, as mysterious as it was, the Voice was still heard

The Voice went on and on. Airports shut down. In fact everything shut down, Work could not continue for no one could concentrate. Nothing could function. After seven days the Voice stopped as quickly as it began.

Needless to say the leaders of each nation became alarmed, thinking there was some kind of invasion coming. But the best intelligence and radar could not detect anything in the sky or atmosphere. Jet planes were sent scouring around the world, but there was nothing to find. Satellites in orbit couldn’t find anything near earth or in outer space. The leaders of the Christians, Muslims, Jews and every other type of religion that existed believed it was the voice of God. Arguments ensued between all of the religious leaders. The Muslims thought it was of voice of Mohamed. The Jews claimed is was Moses and of course the Christians were absolutely sure it was Christ coming for the last judgment. Jehovah Witnesses though the Rapture was about to begin and starting preparing for the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse to appear.

Meetings were held. The US congress ordered an emergency meeting to discuss this turn of events, as did all the other governments around the world. The tribal leaders in the mountains of Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan met to discuss defending their territory. The Pentagon put all the Armed Services on alert and the UN convened into their separate delegations to figure out whom, why and what is doing this. Had some country or individual found a way of taking control of all forms of communication and threaten the very existence of humanity? Was this some elaborate hoax? Some “super-hacker” showing off his or her ‘skills?’

Discussions continued. There were no results. Nothing was being accomplished. The US congress, acting like little spoiled children and lashing out at each other bickered they way they always have. The same happened across the seas in Parliament. Then exactly one week later to the second, the Voice came back and repeated, “ Tell me why I shouldn’t destroy everything on Earth”?

This time the Voice added: “you have one week to respond, and I will speak to one person only. This one representative will speak for all of humanity. He or she should be ready to defend the World. We will meet at 10:00 A.M. EST in Central Park in New York City on the Great Lawn. This message continued for exactly 24 hours, then stopped.

Every nation thought this was some kind of joke. But as soon as the voice stopped, televisions all over the world began to list what was wrong with the world. The same thing happened on all Radio Shows computers, movie screens and I-pods. Any kind of communicative device gave out this message. On the Radio it sounded like public announcements, but the Voice was the same voice that came from the wind. On the television it showed up as a scroll, but instead of going across the TV screen, it went down and covered the whole screen with the same voice bellowing out each statement. If there was a screen or any kind of sounding device or nothing, the Voice could be heard bellowing all over the world.

It began with,

The Environment

The oceans, rivers, lakes, canals and every waterway throughout the Earth are contaminated. The fish, birds and cows are dying. The carbon emissions are destroying the atmosphere and Global Warming has been accelerated and it may be too late to stop it. In the name of greed the world has refused to come up with an alternate form of energy. The oil companies have been gouging up as much oil as they can to and selling it at absorbent prices while polluting the water and atmosphere. Within the last 50 years, these problems could have been solved, but your governments have chosen not to fix the situation or they have come up with a time table that is a joke and it would be too little too late. As a result, the Polar Caps are melting. Your drinking water supply is low. By destroying the forests you are limiting your supply of oxygen. Soon your food will be inedible and your water un-drinkable. Everything you need to survive as a race is being destroyed. “ Tell me why I shouldn’t destroy everything on Earth”?

Humanity

From the very beginning earthlings have been a killing breed. You have turned on each other. You kill everything, and throughout the ages you have enslaved and in some cases eaten each other. Throughout the centuries more blood has been shed than there are stars in your galaxy. You have so many reasons to kill and very few reasons not to. In the United States alone there are 283 million guns. Chicago and Detroit have the highest murder rate in the US, yet the Congress refuses to change the laws. Everyone has a right to own a gun and defend him or herself. With that thinking maybe the US should arm its’ children. More children are killed in the US than anywhere else in the world. Your wars are initially started because of greed. How many wars are going on around the world right now? How many must die before you realize that the death of one person through violence is the death of all of you. “ Tell me why I shouldn’t destroy everything on Earth”?

The Voice went on and on. It covered one topic after the other. Cheating, lying,
education, health care, gangs, starvation, morals and through it all, it kept coming back to greed. After each topic was stated, it ended with “Tell me why I shouldn’t destroy everything on Earth”?

It seemed there was nothing that could be done to stop the continuous broadcasting. Some unplugged their TVs and radios but the Voice still went on. 24 hours a day. The world was overcome with panic. Riots and looting began.
Police and armies were brought out to stop the looting and control the mob-like crowds, but not much could be done. Many were killed and billions of dollars of property was damaged.

You would think it would be the opposite. People could have gathered in a peaceful way and prayed or meditated and wishing this wasn’t happening.
Some did, but some were afraid to go out. Many went the other way and the thinking was; ‘if I’m going to die, I might as well have and enjoy what I always wanted’. The number of ‘revenge’ killings went up along with rape. It was Clockwork Orange times two billion percent

Meanwhile the UN met and tried to decide whom should they send to literally to save the world. Many names from around the world were put into hat, such as Bill and Hillary Clinton, the Dali Lama etc. Some volunteered to talk to the Voice. Russ Limbaugh and Sean Hannity along with Glenn Beck went to Washington DC and then onto as the UN, but they were finally recognized as the idiots they are and were practically laughed out of town. It came down to ex-President Jimmy Carter or Presiden Obama. In the final vote all agreed that the best representative and probably the better speaker was President Obama.

The President agreed to meet with the Voice. All agreed if anyone could do it, Obama could. The president spoke to the leaders of the world and told them that if he could convince the Voice not to destroy Earth, there will be much to give up and change. Some hesitated, but finally agreed.

On the following Saturday, the president arrived at 9:45 and went to the middle of the great lawn. Secret service agents surrounded him. One of them carried a chair for the president. The chair was placed down and the agents were directed to step back about 50 yards. At exactly 10 AM a bright blue light appeared in the sky and the voice that the world was hearing began to speak. It said, “ Tell me why I shouldn’t destroy everything on Earth”?

This question and the Voice were heard throughout the world, which meant that everyone on Earth was listening in. In that instant all the looting, killing and other despicable acts ceased. The Voice had their attention.

The president said, “Before we begin can you tell me if you are God”?

The Voice answered, it wouldn’t matter if I were God, “ Tell me why I shouldn’t destroy everything on Earth”?

Well if you’re not God, who are you?

“You seemed determined to get some answers before we actually begin”

Obama said, “Yes. Please”.

“Alright. I will give you this much.
I am not God. There is no God. Your religions and faiths were invented by men to control and to steal from you”

“If you are not God, then who are you”?

“I am the Guardian of your Galaxy. It is my job to watch over the inhabitants and to make sure they do not disturb the equilibrium that has existed for millions of years”.

“If that is so, why would you want to destroy everything on Earth”?

“You are destroying the planet with selfishness and greed. The equilibrium is already starting to loose it’s balance and in a few short years the Earth will move off its axis and the destruction that will follow will annihilate everything.” “ Tell me why I shouldn’t destroy everything on Earth”?

“Would you will be willing to kill innocent children? Isn’t the smile from one child’s face worth everything”?

The Voice answered, “You must think this is a television or movie script where an answer like that saves the world, but here in the reality of it all I say, if that were true, then why are there millions of children dying from disease, starvation or murder? Why aren’t your children protected from pedophiles or sex slavery? If humanity cared so much about its children it would be taking better care of them.

“What about all the medical discoveries that help the sick”?

If you cared so much about the sick, your new drugs would not cost so much, that most people cannot afford them”. Healthcare would be free.

The President said, “Tell me what should we do”?

“I am here so you will tell me what you and humanity will do”.

Obama said, “ I think we should stop all wars immediately and all weapons that are used for war and killing should be destroyed. Every handgun or rifle should be handed in and be destroyed. Every knife or any weapon that is used for killing should be destroyed.

The Voice said, “You are on the right track, but how to you intend to do this and how long will it take”?

The President said, it might take a year or two.

“What will you do about-your so-called terrorist”?” I don’t think they will be willing to give up their weapons or stop killing. In fact I think that destroying every living thing on earth would be welcomed by them and seen as the ultimate martyrdom”.

“Um! You’re probably right. We will have to track them down and take their weapons away from them”.

“ You haven’t been able to do it so far. What makes you think you can do it now”?

“We’ll just have to take that chance and try harder.”

“Ok. Let’s say I give you a year to accomplish this task, what will you do about the rest of problems that were created by your world and have caused so much damage”?

The President said it would probably take even longer to solve each of those problems.

“ And how much longer? “

“Five years”

“It took you hundreds of years to create these problems. What makes you think you can solved all of this in five years when there is so much going on that is wrong”?

“I think we as humans can do this, just give us a chance, but in order to make it happen I think you will have to prove you can do what you said you would do.”

“Are you asking for a demonstration? Isn’t it enough that I can control all of your communications”?

“I think some leaders will need proof, especially terrorists”.

“Ok. You will have your proof”.

“What do you intend to do”?

In five days the melted ice in your Polar Caps will be restored. Two days later they will be destroyed.

The President said, “Yes I think that will do it. Will we meet again”?

“We will meet on the eight day”.

The light disappeared and with it so did the Voice.

Almost immediately the Polar Caps stopped melting and started to rebuild themselves. Each day the restoration continued. On the 5th day they were completely restored. The weather seemed to level out and the water temperature throughout the world was restored to where it was 100 years ago. It was what we would call a miracle. The news was broadcast around the world. Some Government leaders were hoping the Caps wouldn’t be destroyed, but two days later they were gone and it was as if it never happened.

On the eighth day the President and the Voice met in Central Park.

“You have one year from today to stop all wars and destroy all weaponry throughout the world. If one shot is fired or one person dies due to murder, your world as you know will be over” the Voice said and disappeared.

The first thing the President did was to go to the UN. He gave a long speech and all nations agreed to start destroying their weapons and the mob mentality in the streets has to stop. The question was asked who would go first? Since the Middle East was a hotbed of violence, the Arab Nations refused to go first. They felt they would be leaving themselves exposed to Israel’s wrath. Israel felt the same way. This went on for weeks. The President had a meeting with both Israel and the leader of the Arab Nation. He stressed how important it was for this to get started. They were already running behind schedule and an Armistice had yet to be called between other warring nations. He finally said to both parties, “ I am going to take care of the United States and help countries that need it. I will destroy all weapons and collect all guns throughout my Nation and I am sure that the other Nations will follow. I will make sure no one goes hungry again and everyone will get free medical care. I will create jobs to help the environment. All the money we have been spending on wars and weapons will go into medical research, creating jobs, rebuilding our roads and bridges and feeding the hungry”.

“I am sure the rest of the world will follow. In a year’s time, when the Voice returns, maybe I can strike a bargain with him. Since 99% of the world will have met its obligations except for you two and some terrorists. Maybe instead of destroying everything on Earth, he would only destroy your two nations and the terrorists.”

This argument seemed to work. Both nations simultaneously began destroying their weapons. The biggest problem was to find the terrorists and to somehow cut down on crime.

Criminals being released from prisons all over the world had to re-educated.
Many were mentally ill or just plain violent. The task seemed insurmountable.

The one- year mark was arriving in a few days. Not all was complete. The tribes in the Afghan mountains were still fighting and Osama Bin Laden and his military hadn’t been found as of yet. The heads of Governments were panicking. They knew they hadn’t finished. They also knew what the Voice demanded was impossible. All they could do was hope and pray that the Voice would give humanity some more time to stop the violence.

When the next Saturday arrived, the President again arrived at 9:45 and went to the middle of the great lawn. Secret service agents surrounded him. One of them carried a chair for the president. The chair was placed down and the agents were directed to step back about 50 yards. At exactly 10 AM a bright blue light appeared in the sky and the Voice that the world had heard a year ago began to speak. “ Tell me why I shouldn’t destroy everything on Earth”?

The President stood and said” There are very few starving children now. Murders have gone down 98% around the world. All wars have stopped except for a few in some mountain ranges in the Middle East. We are hoping to settle them in a few more weeks. We are rehabilitating criminals. We are helping drug addicts. The sale and flow of drugs has stopped and most weapons have been destroyed. The money used for the military has been shifted to research and cures for all diseases and new and great medicines are on the horizon while we work on restoring the atmosphere, and the oceans to what they once were. In five years we will accomplish what you asked of us.”

The Voice said, “yes you have done well, but there is the question of terrorists.
This problem has not been solved. The deal was no weaponry in one year.
I see you are trying. This is what the universe wants. I will give you another year, but only one year to end terrorism in the world”.

The President smiled and said “thank you, thank you!”

You could hear the cheers around the world. Horns starting blowing, people danced in the street it was as if it was New Years Eve on Broadway.

Just as the Voice said “I bid you farewell” explosions ripped through the park and the surrounding buildings. Simultaneously in other parts of the World,
the same thing happened. London looked like the Blitz after World War Two and the same for Germany. Japan and China had explosions that killed thousands of people and Moscow was devastated by destruction. The American Embassies throughout the world were destroyed. Explosions continued throughout the day. All the work and healing that went into rebuilding humanity was being destroyed.

It seems the year that the World was working on changing everything security had become lapsed.

Osama Bin Laden’s cohorts were able to travel around the world and place bombs in strategic places where they would do the most damage. Washington DC was destroyed along with the UN and Statue of Liberty. In Paris, the Eiffel Tower was destroyed along with The Church of Notre Dame. The Taj Maj Hall did not exist anymore. Dirty bombs left the atmosphere filled with radioactive particles and mushroom clouds were seen from one end of the globe to another.

Three days later the Voice could be heard all over the world.

“You had your chance and you destroyed it. And in destroying it you have destroyed yourselves. You have cast a cloud of darkness that will take hundreds of years to go away. Within a year you will all be dead. I do not have to destroy everything on Earth. Through your selfishness and stupidity you have done it yourselves. Goodbye”!

The Voice was never heard from again. A year later the only thing left on Earth were its’ buildings. Every tree, every flower and every living thing was gone.

50 years later an Alien Spaceship flew over New York. The buildings were still there but it looked and felt like a ghost town. The Alien ship did not land for the radiation level was still high. It flew to South America and then on to Russia and Europe and Asia. Nowhere in sight was there one living thing. As fast as it came in to take a look was how fast the ship left the Earths’ Atmosphere, calling ahead to its Mother Ship.

“ This place called Earth is uninhabitable!”

Dom Minasi

Christmases Remembered

When I was a young child one of my best memories was spending Christmas with my family. When I say family I don’t just mean my mother, father and brother, I mean my grandmother and all my aunts, uncles and cousins on my mother’s side.

Every Christmas Eve and Christmas Day the family would spend together. Most of the time it was at our house. This was the second house we had lived in. We moved there when I was four years old. My brother Tony was born in that house a year later.

This house was a big two-story brick house. It had a large finished basement with a fireplace. The basement had a kitchen, boiler room, finished bathroom, three large closets and the main room was gigantic. The upstairs main floor had a huge kitchen with a breakfast alcove, dining room, and a large living room with a fireplace and adjacent library with huge windows. The upstairs second floor had three bedrooms with a kitchen and another full bathroom. This is where my grandmother lived, (my father’s mother). There also was an unfinished attic. The outside property next to the house was 100’ by 100’. It was huge. People in the neighborhood thought we were rich. We weren’t, but my father made a good living and owned a men’s clothing factory. His factory was big and everyone from both sides of the family at one time or another worked in the factory. My father had contracts with the US Army to make uniforms. We were comfortable.

Soon after we moved to the new house my father’s mother died and a few years later my father almost died from a major heart attack. He lost his business, but we survived.
My mother went back to work and I was given a lot of responsibility in helping out.

Even though we were poor, we didn’t act or behave that way. My mother cooked every night. She made our clothes for us and we lived a life absence of feeling sorry for our selves. My father eventually got better and returned to work and we were OK. Not as good as before, but OK.

My parents converted this large house into a two family house so we would have an extra income. It was after the house was converted that family Christmases were spent at our house.

Two weeks before Christmas, we would put up the tree and hang lights outside around the house and the back. All the lights were blue. It was very pretty to look at and was a perfect setting for Christmas.

In the Italian tradition, Christmas Eve was fish night and Christmas Day was the meat day. All my Aunts would come over and along with my mother and grandmother and would do the cooking. It took all day to prepare the lavish meal for all of us. The fish was bought early in the morning at the fish market as well vegetables at the local farmer’s market and all the deserts and bread at the Italian bakery.

We used the finished basement area to have dinner.

My father would rent long tables and set them up in a semi-circle like a horseshoe. The cousins would set the table and we would sit down to have dinner around 8pm. When I say all of us, I mean about
40 -50 people which included all the new babies too.

The fish dinners always consisted of the 1st course being spaghetti with a red fish sauce made with shrimp or calamari. If you preferred a white sauce there was spaghetti and claims and the claims were fresh and had to me washed and opened.

The next course would be a salad. Some would prefer to wait and have their salad with the main meal. The main meal would consist of all kinds of fish dishes. Lobster with butter sauce, lobster tails baked with red sauce and mozzarella cheese. There was fried flounder and two kinds of shrimp and a fish salad with calamari, shrimp, lettuce and other types of fish. Along with the main course came all the side dishes of two or three kinds of vegetables and of course fresh Italian bread and butter.

After the main course the table was cleared and fruit and nuts were served. In some families that would be considered desert, but in Italian families, desert is cake or pastry. The deserts consisted of all kinds of Italian pastries and assorted cakes and cookies and served with either regular coffee, which was called brown coffee or espresso with lemon slices (black coffee).

Later that night we would open presents.

When I was 12-14 years old, I would do my impression of Elvis Presley singing Hound Dog The family loved it and so did I. ( I can hear all my musician friends laughing). Needless to say, by the time I was 15 years old I refused to do it anymore because I had gotten seriously into jazz and no self respecting jazz musician would impersonate Elvis.

When midnight came, we were all exhausted and would sleep all over the house. The bedrooms, and the couches the floor, everywhere. The next morning we would all wake up, to the smell of fresh coffee. We would have breakfast in shifts.

The men would sit and sip on their extra cups of coffee, smoke and hang around the house and talk or watch TV while the kids either played together or played with some of the toys that Santa brought them. The women would begin preparations for the late afternoon dinner. You must remember this was 1949- 1959. That’s the way it was then. Women did everything and the women were all my mother’s sisters. Whenever they were together they were always laughing as if they had some private joke that no one but them were privy to.

The dinner, again, would consist of a huge meal, with many courses. The first course was some kind of Italian soup. The second course anti-pasta, meaning before the pasta. Next was macaroni (pasta) in a meat sauce or huge meat lasagna. Then came the meat from the sauce that you would eat with Italian bread. Next came some kind a roast along with chicken, which was either roasted, or cacciatore with plenty of side dishes like broccoli in a white garlic sauce, peas and carrots, artichokes cooked in garlic and oil and corn. Again the fruits and nuts and the coffee and desert were served. All in all, we had a seven course meal. After dinner the kids would play, the women washed the dishes and then the adults would either sit around and talk or play cards.

The thing to remember is that these dinners took hours to prepare and hours to consume, but it was a joyous time for everyone. I think back at those times when I was younger and how I enjoyed it all so much. The following week we would do it all over again at one of my aunt’s house for New Years Eve and New Years.

It’s sad, but true, the world was an easier and simpler place to live in back then. It took very little to make us happy.

As the years went by, all the cousins had there own kids and the sisters and brothers had there own Christmas Eve dinners together and after my grandmother passed away, it seemed the family didn’t get together as much. We only saw each other at Weddings and funerals and by the time I was 19, I was traveling and working all the time including Christmas and New Years. If the dinners had continued, I would have missed most of them as I missed many of my cousin’s weddings.

I am so grateful for those memories and my family. To this day I am close with my family. four years ago my Aunt Virginia passed away. I was very close to her and although I hadn't seen her at Christmas in many years, I spoke to her all the time. With her passing and my Aunt Florence, the De Rosa clan (my mother's side of the family) are gone.. My cousin Phil died this pass year and I am eternally grateful to him for he was there for me when my Father died.

My wife, Carol, loves Christmas and decorates our apartment while listening to Christmas music and between my brother’s family my kids and grandchildren and our friends another tradition has begun. With the miracle of the Internet and now Facebook I am in close contact with my cousins. My cousin Angel renewed the traditional family picnic which had stopped 55 years ago, but that’s another story.

I think for all of us, Christmas will be remembered with joy and tragedy. For the last 10/20 years, all the racial tension and the killing of our black brethren. Now going on three years, Covid 19  and the pandemic that has cost thousands of lives throughout the world.. Let us send healing prayers to those who lost their loved ones and give thanks for what we have and pray for  healing and peace.

My wife, Carol and I  and I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday and may your memories and future memories be filled with joy

Dom Minasi


jazzguitar@domminasi.com

A Friend Remembered

Three Days ago, (December 15th) was the anniversary of the death of dear friend and great jazz pianist, Dennis Moorman. It was eight years ago that Dennis’s wife Lynette called to tell us that Dennis died.

Why am I re-posting this again?

It is near Christmas and I always think of Dennis around now.

I met Dennis after my Blue Note days. In order to make a living, besides teaching, I played club dates, which are better known to the rest of the country as 'casuals'. For those who don't know what casuals are, they are weddings, dances, etc. A lot of jazz musicians get their training on these gigs and still do them, but won't admit it.

I was playing in one of these bands when someone asked if I knew Dennis. I did not. Eventually at one of these dates I met him. Dennis and I hit it off right away. We both had sour tastes in our mouths brought on by the so-called "business of jazz."

A few years later I stopped playing these gigs. I had been through a divorce and had moved to the city. Around 1984 I called Dennis and said "listen, I know you like to play ‘out’ and so do I, so why don't we play out together?" We set a date and got together. At first we played standards and eventually we started playing original music.

Dennis and I rehearsed almost every week for a year. In a year's time
we had grown very close, not only as musicians, but also as friends. I also got to know his wife Lynette and their son Russell.

Dennis was getting his Doctorate in Jazz Education from NYU. They had to create a curriculum because no one had ever pursued a Doctorate in Jazz Education before! I was honored that in his Dissertation, Dennis quoted material from one of my books. When he gave me a copy of it, again I felt honored that he truly respected my opinion. This respect, needless to say, was mutual.

We did work some jazz gigs together as co-leaders of a quartet, which
was broadcast ‘live’ on WKCR radio with Phil Schapp announcing and interviewing us.

During that time we recorded an album (String Duets), which we both shopped around with no luck. I did get a hand written letter from Michael Cuscuna telling me how much he enjoyed the music, but Blue Note wanted more commercial music (so what else is new).


Eventually Dennis and I went our separate ways, but we always stayed in
touch and in 2000 we started playing together again. Dennis was sitting in the front row when I recorded Takin’ The Duke Out at The Knitting Factory in New York City.

We started making plans and wanted to add another ten or twelve minutes to the album and release it as a CD under my own CDM label.

Christmas 2001, Dennis and Lynette were in our home laughing and sharing Christmas with our friends.

One year later Dennis was offered a kidney. He was on dialysis for years. Dennis’s kidneys failed a long time ago and he almost died when his body rejected a transplant. But in 2002 he decided it was time to try again.

Lynette called us and told us about it and we went to see Dennis in the hospital. He was in good spirits and happy. Two days later he died.

My wife Carol and I went to his wake and his burial.

To this day I am sad and I miss him all the time and I know if he were alive today, we would be making great music together.

2002 was a hard year for me emotionally. After my heart surgery, bassist Peter Kowald died two days after I worked with him and then Dennis.


It’s Christmas time and the biggest gifts you can give anyone are love, kindness and forgiveness. I can't stress it enough. Make each day count and let your loved ones know how much you love them, 'cause it could be over in a flash!

I Could Have Been.....

Twit, Twitter, Twiddle Lee Dee

In today’s paper they listed the top ten Twitter All-Stars. Lady Gaga is number one with over 6 million fans following her every tweet. I have 59. Not millions, seriously 59 followers. Admittedly so, I only tweet when I have something important to say and I only say it once in a while. Thus 59. Now if I tweeted everyday and let’s say I let people know when I wake up, take a shower, go to the bathroom and then make some phone calls, who knows maybe my fan base will go up to about 61.


Ok! I’m not a rock star. I can’t sing, well she can’t sing either. Maybe if I change my name to Lord Blah-Blah, I’ll get a few more fans. I can perform in my underwear or nude, that should raise my numbers or lower them depending how you look at it. If people want to see an overweight, balding, aging guitar player perform that way, I’m in! I too can become a super star.

But wait! I may have to stop playing very far out jazz and “God forgive me”, play music the public understands like Pop or Rock or even worse, I would have to play a solid body guitar, loose weight and wear a multi-color wig, tattoos and make-up. Maybe then I can raise my numbers to 101 fans. Hey it’s going up.

Lady Gaga writes her own songs. I compose and write songs with lyrics. When Lady Gaga sings her songs, no one understands the lyrics. When vocalists sing my songs everyone understands the lyrics. Wait! Maybe that’s it! I have to write songs that no one can understand and have singers garble the words, which will make them totally foreign. That’s the key and the answer. I now know the formula to becoming world famous!

Write garbage, play garbage, look like garbage and the worse you are the more the public will love you. Gees, why couldn’t I think of that 30 years ago. You see, that’s what a manager is for. What a wasted career. I could have impacted millions but instead, 59 fans. Hey what can I say? 59 is better than none.

Dom Minasi