Anthony and Matthew playing in the backyard - 1996

More videos coming...

Phillies 2008 Video - Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np7mBZzgyYg

"Just Look"

This article, by Cardinal Egan, explains the Pro Life argument from the Catholic Church in its simplest form. I encourage you to read.

http://www.cny.org/archive/eg/eg102308.htm

Watch this video on MLB.com

Blanton Home Run Video

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200810263646924

Photo Moment - October 1991

Going left to right, Peter, Anthony, Matthew, Elizabeth, Jacob, Drew and Alise. This picture was taken at Woodcrest train station in NJ. As far as I can remember we were taking the kids into Philly to the light show at Wanamaker's.

Happenings This Week

- I celebrated another birthday :)
- Anthony calls me at 12:03AM to wish me a Happy Birthday!
- Matthew calls me at 11:45PM to wish me a Happy Birthday!
- Kelsie & Mommy make me Lasagna and Chocolate Cake...YUMMMY
- The Phillies lose game 2 of World Series..Tied 1-1
- St Matthew's needs help with their Internet connection (Sr. Lucy)
- $170 for Truck Air Controls, $107 for Blower Motor Resistor, $30 for advise...still not working
- Pass the Pigs at Sunday Breakfast....Will I ever win?
- Almost done scanning

Happy Birthday to ME!

Please sent lots of money and expensive gifts.

Photo Moment

This is the Amtrak building in Philadelphia. I took this as I was driving by it on my way home from a client.

Happenings This Week

- Phillies win the Pennant!
- Last Presidential debate (almost down with all this political junk)
- ipod causes Julie's new computer not to boot
- Google Apps is so cool
- Matthew is coming home this weekend
- Tommy asked me to be in his wedding! Time to get measured for Tux.
- Red Sox's pull out miracle win in game 5...wow
- Mfon has a baby boy! Congrats

Phillies are a better team

This article from LA Times journalist. Enjoy Phillies fams!

It's unbelievable, truly unbelievable.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-newhan15-2008oct15,0,2366031.story

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

To scan or not to scan...that is the question

I've been very busy lately trying to get all the family (both Casazza and Ware) pictures on the website These pictures are from a scanning project that I started by in 2003. My dad had the idea to collect all the photo's from Uncle Tony and Cousin Pete and get them scan and put on CD's. I was happy to assist. I was actually able to create CD and thumbnail albums for all 3 families. During this project it also made sense to collect my mother's pictures from her side but I never really got a chance to complete the scanning of these photo's. So that's what I am doing now. In the end, everyone in the family will have a place to go to look up and download old family pictures. My Grandmother's photo albums are very interesting because she wrote many comments next to many of the pictures.

Homecoming Dance

Kelsie had her first Homecoming dance at the high school last night. She looked so beautiful. It's hard to believe that my little girl has grown up. We took pictures over at the Capri's house with Ali and Stephanie. Kathleen and Patty (the PTO) worked the event. I was able to stop by and see everyone. It was a very nice affair.

Phillies take game 1 of NLCS

Philadelphia, which led the National League with 214 home runs in 2008, banged its way to victory against one of baseball's stingiest pitchers. Lowe had surrendered just 14 home runs in 211 regular-season innings, but three in the postseason.

Before the first of the two home runs Lowe surrendered, there was Shane Victorino grounding weakly to Rafael Furcal and speeding down the line. The shortstop fielded the chopper, but threw high to first baseman James Loney for an error.

That ball hit by Victorino, like many others thrown by Lowe through the first five innings, had induced ground ball after ground ball. Fourteen of the 15 outs Lowe recorded came on the ground, giving the night the feel of something that might not work out for Philadelphia.

Furcal's error sparked the Phillies.

"I saw Loney reaching up, and said to myself, 'What's happening here?'" Victorino said. "I wanted to make sure I could get to second."

One pitch later, Victorino was waiting for Chase Utley at home plate. One of Utley's patented drives floated out to right, tying the score at 2.

"I was trying to get him over, no matter what, I was getting him over to third base," Utley said. "[I] squared a sinker up and it went over the fence. For Derek Lowe it was up, but it wasn't that bad of a pitch."

With barely enough time to settle, Pat Burrell sent the crowd into a frenzy with a rainbow into the left-field seats. Manny Ramirez peeked over his shoulder to watch, but there was no doubt it was gone.

Cue the disgusted look, the one a pitcher makes when fly ball finds the seats.

"He basically made two mistakes," Victorino said. "Things happen quick in this game. Momentum can shift on a simple mistake, a big home run, or big pitch."

Ken Mandel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Memory Moment

This is my dad (right) and my Uncle Tony (his brother) probably around the mid to late 1930's. My guess is that they are in Scarsdale NY at Uncle Caesar's home. My father and his family would make this trek every Easter. Uncle Caesar is my father's mother brother who also happen to live in the same building at 645 40th St, Brooklyn, NY. This picture was scanned from my Cousin Pete's photos back in 2003. Many more of these photos can be viewed on my family's photo website at http://cazphotos.photo-frame.com. Enjoy!

Happenings this week

- Picked up Matthew last Friday from Cabrini and brought him home for the weekend
- Float building duty is over
- Kelsie and the girls start bowling again (The Jonas Sisters)
- Dinner with Russel, Kim, Ali at Charlie Browns
- Dad's Birthday is this Tuesday (81 years old)
- Time to put out the Halloween stuff
- Pancakes for Sunday breakfast
- Eagles loose But Phillies win...bring on the Dodgers

USA Today Article on Bailout Passage

WASHINGTON (AP) — After two weeks of anguishing debate, Congress has passed and President Bush signed a massive plan to save the financial industry and the economy at large from an unthinkable free fall. Now, the world holds its breath, seeing if it will work.

Passage of the $700 billion financial rescue package came after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at a meeting last month shocked congressional leaders into action by warning of pending economic collapse without immediate congressional intervention.

Paulson said after the climactic House vote Friday that he already had staff working out details and was lining up advisers from outside the government to get the money flowing.

The immediate response to the 263-171 vote was not promising. Wall Street, which plunged a record 778 points after the House initially rejected the bill last Monday, fell 157 points on Friday as more economic bad news, such as a jump in job losses, outweighed news that Congress was finally coming to the rescue.

Still, Bush and Congress made clear that the legislation was urgent and vital. "We have acted boldly to help prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country," Bush said after the House vote. He acknowledged that "our economy continues to face serious challenges."

"We know that if we do nothing this crisis is likely to worsen and put us in a slump the likes of which most of us have never seen," said House Republican leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, who worked with House and Senate Republican and Democratic leaders in a rare bipartisan response to what both parties saw as a dire threat to the nation's economic well-being.

"We are addressing the real pain felt by Mr. and Mrs. Jones on Main Street," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said. "They are why we must pass this legislation today."

The legislation gives the government broad authority to buy up toxic mortgage-related investments and other distressed assets from shaky financial institutions. The hope is that it will restore confidence in markets and thaw a near-freeze in credit availability that has begun to affect the ability of community banks to loan, businesses to obtain money for payrolls and investments and individuals from getting credit to buy a home or a car.

The measure, in another effort to help smaller banks with serious liquidity problems, also raised the ceiling on federally insured deposits from $100,000 to $250,000. It increases federal oversight over Wall Street transactions and assures that CEOs whose companies benefit from the bailout don't leave with huge golden parachute payoffs.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the Financial Services Committee chairman and a key negotiator over the past weeks, said the measure was just the beginning of a much larger task Congress will tackle next year: overhauling housing policy and financial regulation in a legislative effort comparable to the New Deal.

The political story preceding the House vote Friday was nearly as dramatic as the financial and economic upheavals going on outside Washington.

Last Monday, despite urgent pleas from Bush and his senior financial advisers and the support of congressional leaders, the House voted 228-205 to reject the rescue plan. Stock markets around the world plunged, then recovered to some extent, as economists warned that not since the Great Depression had the United States faced such a crisis.

But the 95 Democrats and 133 Republicans who voted against the bill were responding to a deluge of calls and messages from their constituents demanding that they defeat what many saw as a $700 billion giveaway to Wall Street when average Americans were getting no help.

On Wednesday, the Senate, shortly before it recessed for the election, stepped in, voting 74-25 for a package that linked the rescue bill to a giant bill extending popular tax breaks such as the research-and-development tax credit, providing incentives for renewable energy resources and giving tax relief to disaster victims. That bill, costing an additional $110 billion, included a measure to give benefits parity to people with mental health problems. The Senate also added the boost in the ceiling for bank deposits.

Those additions were enough to sway some House members who voted "no" the first time around. Others were swamped by calls from business and political leaders warning of the possible consequences of inaction.

"I've never talked to as many bank presidents in my life," said Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich., who said he had also been lobbied by General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner and other auto executives.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent out a letter warning that, absent a clear resolution to the financial crisis, California and other states "may be unable to obtain the necessary level of financing to maintain government operations and may be forced to turn to the federal Treasury for short-term financing."

The two presidential candidates also weighed in. Democrat Barack Obama spoke to many in the Congressional Black Caucus and helped persuade 13 to switch their votes. Nine freshmen Democrats also switched to "yes" votes after a conference call with Obama in which he promised an economic stimulus bill would be a top priority if he is elected.

Republican John McCain also lobbied for the measure, according to aides who declined to release a list of lawmakers he called.

"It's disgusting that we would ever be brought to this floor to cast this vote," said Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee, a Republican who changed to a "yes" vote. But "Congress has to act. We are out of options. Hold your hand over your heart and vote 'yes."'

Not all were convinced. "The Treasury plan throws an ungodly amount at Wall Street," said Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio. "This is just an end run around, right before an election. Pray for our republic."

In the end, 33 Democrats and 25 Republicans switched from opposition to support. In all, 91 Republicans joined 172 Democrats to support the measure while 108 Republicans and 63 Democrats voted 'no."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

BE A MAN?

The guy on the left is Scott O'Shea and that's me on the right at the University of Arkansas in September 2006. Rumor has it that this guy "Found a Girl". Now I don't actually have any proof of this. I am taking Scott's word on this. Rumor also has it that he and this girl are expecting a baby in about 2 months. Hmmmmm....I thought I said "FIND A GIRL, GET MARRIED, HAVE CHILDREN, BE A MAN". Now Scott has told me that he plans on one day marrying this fine Irish woman. Maybe he can SQUEEZE this in between now and when the baby gets here...I think not. But I believe in my dear friend and have confidence that one day he will "BE A MAN"!

Memory Moment - 1934-35

This picture, taken in Millville, NJ around 1934-35, is of my Grandfather and Grandmother Ware along with my mother Suzanne. My Grandfather was a doctor and worked down in the south Jersey area for many years. He and my grandmother had a shore house down in Ocean City, NJ which I and my 2 triplet brothers would visit every summer for a couple weeks at a time. I remember one summer we tracked black tar into the house which left its mark everywhere. The tar got on our feet from walking on the jetties (Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetty). I thought my grandfather was going to kill us BUT thanks to my grandmother, we were spared.

More on our family tree can be found at: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/a/s/Anthony-J-Casazza-Thorofare/index.html