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About the Staff
Excursionz Magazine is an exciting team of people who have all kinds of both
business and personal experiences in all topics and categories in this magazine.
And what we don't 'know.. we will find out! The magazine is born out of the
websites I have created over the last several years. I am also the creator of
this magazine concept. I dragged my close friend Larry Kalbfeld from
Photos in a Flash in Guilford into this project only back in December of 2005.
He is one of the kindest people I have come to know and he has been a major
support for this project and me in ALL aspects both as a friend and business
partner.... and he has NO idea what he has gotten himself into!! My friend
and well-known Food & Travel writer Linda Kavanagh who has known me for a little
while longer than Larry and has a good idea of what dealing with me is like, was
also immediately dragged into the project. Her great sense of humor, support and
excitement in this project has been a driving force in seeing this come to
reality. Her energy about life and bringing the joy of it to other people both
on an editorial and personal level, has been an inspiration to me and many
others..... I am thrilled to have her working with me.. us.. !!! Then there is
"Side Kick" aka Marianne. She joined our CT Bikers Guide about a year ago. We
met a Nick's Place in Madison one morning so I could personally deliver her
shirt and membership card. I came to find a pretty girl just babbling.. oops I
mean BUBBLING with
enthusiasm. Since that day she has become a friend and huge help to all the
sites and this magazine project... she shows up at the office at least once a
week with coffee and bagel in hand ready to take on any adventure we have going
... she is relentless in her ideas about helping to get this thing going. Make
sure you have a good nights sleep before you meet her... you are going to need
it to
keep up!!! Adam and Peter
from Onyx Soundlab and Tha Zoo records were brought into the project in early January as major
contributors and editors of the Music Scene section. Adam, Peter and I met
over a year ago, trying to connect on the common interest of providing CT with a
GREAT Music Scene, and we know have the vehicle to do it with. Their great
talents, high energy, interest and motivation have brought great new ideas to
this magazine and Music Scene for all of us. Barbara who writes "REPLAY" for the
CT Music Scene website was also asked to come along on our journey as a
contributing writer. She has been writing for CT Music Scene for over a year and
has been very resourceful in bringing in new contacts and interests to the site.
She is on a constant mission to search out new ideas and people who can help
bring the music scene some great new stuff! Brian Gillie, another friend of
Larry's and mine.. (I actually met Brian through Larry) is a terrific
entertainer and performs at shows for children and seniors, teaches drums.. and
also has a flair for writing and will have a column called "Crescendo" in the
magazine and website. He also teaches swing dance, which I would love to try
someday... but after one turn with me, he would probably quit teaching it all
together!!!!!! He has also been a wonderful friend and a lot of fun to be
around, Bands beware.. you may see us out tag teaming! You will also see the name Bill Dougal appear on quite a lot of things
both in the magazine and websites as he has been taken on as our "Cartoonist"!
He has fortunately .. or unfortunately had the pleasure of my acquaintance
through Brian, who he has also done some sketches for. He has created our TO BE
very famous "JUNKIE MONKEY" on our CT HOME OWNERS GUIDE and CTHOMEJUNKIES.com
which will be our CT Auction site! We are in the process of creating a ton of
new graphics for the magazine and websites... I will try not to drive him crazy
in the meantime with "Bill .. can you make that a different color" or .. "maybe
add this please"!!!! There is one other very talented person I have added to this
team.. I had to drag her... kicking and screaming.... very literally on the
screaming part.. and that is my very sweet, charming, personable, pretty,
cooperative, great, wonderful (all my traits I passed on to her) DAUGHTER..
LYNNE.. who is also....a ... p.. i... t.... n....fdskjsdfjklgasjgksgjsdgjsdgksjd
at times!!! She has a great talent for SHOPPING, spending money, home
decorating, drawing,
creating very very cool artwork both by hand and on the computer... she is a
wonderful mother ... daughter (cough, cough) and ... friend. She is witty and
funny and.. fdsfdsfdsjfldsjfs.... She will be working on the layouts for the
magazine.... so if you hear a lot of commotion between Norwich and Guilford it
is probably only the two of us having a LOVING MOTHER/DAUGHTER conversation!!!
Other thanks go to Lee Sheridan
from Full Throttle Magazine who has helped me tremendously in even ever thinking
that this would be possible. Through her success and knowledge she has helped to
steer this magazine in the right direction. I will be happy to be standing next
to her in the success story line!!!
and thanks to Don Clady.. "who
is that Don Clady guy anyway" who has been a major support and friend to our CT
Bikers Guide and now Excursionz Magazine! His generosity to people has
been a tremendous asset to our Bikers Guide website and many people I know. He
is one of those people that jumps in to help anyone he can and he is constantly
wanting to help promote us and is constantly asking me to writer something..
which I try to do once in a while and then of course ask him to edit it!! NOW I
am asking him to write for us!!!! Meet him at Super Sunday!
Also a very important part of
this team are my existing clients, who I have now had many of them for
years...... and I consider to be my friends as well.. not sure how they feel
about me.. but I assume since they are all still CURRENT clients it is not too
bad.. they will usually pick up the phone when I call!!!! Without them, none
of this would be possible either... I look forward to everyone who reads this
magazine knowing them all as well!!!
Thank you ALL .. let's get rockin!!!!
Kim Williams.. aka "Webmistress"
Kim Williams started Culinarymenus.com in
April of 1998. After 14 years of owning a new construction
cleaning service, The "Cleaning Squad", in Fairfield County,
I had a long talk with my cleaning supplies and told them
all they were going to be retired. As my mother was an
interior designer, I have acquired a long time yearning for
beautiful homes ... couldn't own one at the time, so I
decided to clean them. Big, beautiful grandiose homes in the
back country of Greenwich in Conyers Farm was our specialty,
but after I was driving myself to Greenwich in my sleep
every night I decided I needed a change.. so here comes The
Megasite Guide to Dining. Then came CT Bikers Guide.. then
CT Music Scene... then ShoptheShoreline.com (which is
Larry's site) and then CT Home Owners Guide.. all of them
have been born out of my own personal interests... No I
don't cook.. that is why I needed a dining guide. My dad and
best friend is the one I can blame for the music site...
(and MY charming personality) as he has been a music teacher
and accomplished pianist all his life. Since I was not
graced with any of his musical talent, I was forced to be a
groupie, which is where my love of music wound up. Also,
expect to see some of my dad's drawings to show up too!! And YES, I do
ride a motorcycle .. on the back of my boyfriends '72 Rigid
Shovelhead or for longer rides his '98 Heritage Softtail,
and Yes I now play Contractor and Decorator in my own home
which is why I started CT Home Owners Guide... and now WE
are creating Excursionz Magazine which is the birth child
from all of them... I am looking forward to both Excursionz
and all the sites to entertain and inform you of the great
places CT has to offer! Join us on our Excursionz in
Connecticut!
Jeremy Staub ... Art Director
For as long as I can remember I wanted to draw
for a living. My
mother would get phone calls from my
teachers complaining about me sketching
in my note books -
sometimes even my text books instead of doing
class and home work. A year after
graduating with a
degree in illustration I found myself struggling
to get by as a
freelance cartoonist so I sold out and
took a job at a small ad agency as a
designer. 6 years
later, with the support of my fantastic,
beautiful wife Gina, I
left that company and started my own
creative studio. I look forward to the
challenge of bringing
the Excursionz dream to life.
Linda
Kavanagh aka... "Food Chick"
Linda Kavanagh, a
true devotee of the hospitality industry, has been singing
the praises of talented chefs, restaurateurs, and hoteliers
for years. Having worked her way through the wacky
hospitality world, an accomplished chef herself, Linda
contributes to various publications throughout CT, including
Wilton Magazine, The Fairfield County Homesteader, and
Culinarymenus.com, as well as Restaurant Forum Magazine in
Florida. Nationally, her travels to exciting destinations
where there is a thriving culinary scene and unique and
luxurious accommodations, are chronicled in the pages of
Food & Beverage International, where she is a Managing
Editor, as well as Travelworld International Magazine and
Sogonow.com. Linda has garnered numerous awards including
The North American Travel Journalists Association's Award of
Excellence for the Hospitality Trade , remaining dedicated
to an industry that will forever keep her on her toes!
In 1997 Linda created MaxEx, LLC, a boutique public
relations firm where she and her team of former
restaurateurs have dedicated themselves to promoting the
hospitality industry.
Music/Entertainment
CT Music Scene - The Monthly Mix Down
www.ctmusicscene.com
Adam Gootkin
Manchester, CT
860-436-4581
ctmusicscene@excursionzmagazine.com
Barbara Traver
Barbara Traver has shared her love of rock
and roll music with fellow musicians and
friends since age 16. A business school
graduate, Barbara maintains a successful
career as a legal assistant. Barbara’s
dream of being a photojournalist turned into
a reality last spring when she landed her
own column with CTMusicScene.com as well as
contributing writer for Excursionz.
Barbara is dedicated to promoting the local
music scene across Connecticut, writing
about local musicians as well as rock and
roll icons!
Brian Gillie
Brian
Gillie joined the
public school performance roster of Young
Audiences of Connecticut as a dancer, singer
and American song and dance historian in
1983, and he was their Artist of the Year in
1999. He has toured New England with three
professional dance troupes, was principal
choreographer with the Connecticut Swing
Dancers for six years, and he has two
nationally available swing dance
instructional videos. Brian has been a
guest lecturer in dance at Yale and Wesleyan
Universities and Adjunct Professor of Dance
at Naugatuck Valley Community College. Brian
has lead teacher-training workshops at the
National Dance Association’s annual
conferences in Boston and Worcester, and he
is a Master Teaching Artist with the
Connecticut Commission for Culture and
Tourism.
Brian
Gillie has been
a student of voice, percussion and piano
since childhood. Today he runs his own
music and recording studio and has four
albums of original songs and an award
winning radio jingle. Brian received a
Masters of Education degree and is a
consultant to song and dance educators. He
has taught songwriting classes through
Connecticut’s Shoreline Foundation and has
been a member of the Connecticut Songwriting
Association and BMI. Brian has toured
Denmark, Austria, Russia, Wales and London
as both a singer and dancer with the
Waterbury Chorale and Yale Alumni Glee Club.
Brian
Gillie has
presented his piano/vocals at senior
centers, health facilities and retirement
communities for the past decade. His
infectious stylings, soothing voice,
congenial humor and deep compassion make him
an uplifting, renewable resource.
As a writer,
Brian has written the reference text, A
Guide to the Best Vocal Harmonies of Rock
‘n’ Roll: 1955 –1985, and he enjoys
writing music reviews for ctmusicscene.com
and a music column for CT’s newest magazine
venture, “Excursionz.”
Visit
www.briangillie.com
Karen P. Rankowitz
aka "Lulu"
Karen P. Rankowitz is a freelance writer and
news correspondent who resides in Lisbon CT with
her husband and two young sons she calls Chaos
and Commotion. Much of her published work has
appeared in the Norwich Bulletin. Her humor
writing focuses on raising children and a dog,
being a woman of the 40 plus age group, push-up
bras and bugs. While she has a knack for
finding humor at the most inopportune times she
does maintain a serious approach to reporting
news stories from the area of Norwich CT.
Ray Ginty aka
"Spiderman"
I have been a biker my whole life. My first love
has always been horses, but I could not afford
to own one, so I started riding motorcycles to
get the same rush as riding horses. I started
out riding old banged up dirt bikes, then road
bikes, then choppers. Not the choppers that are
seen on TV today, but homemade Triumph and BSA
choppers. Back then if you wanted a pair of ape
hangers for your chopper you first had to
commandeer a metal shopping cart from your local
super market. Now this practice was something
that the store owners frowned upon. So you would
have to grab the cart and run like the wind
until the store manager gave up and stopped
chasing you. Then you cut the bottom of it and
you had one ready made set of ape hangers, piece
of cake. I have always believed that freedom is
our most important right in life, and nothing
made me feel more free than riding horses, and
motorcycles. I have spent many years working at
many different jobs in my life. I have worked as
a gun manufacturer, truck driver, inner city bus
driver in the city of New Haven, an artistic
blacksmith, horse handler and a metal sculptor.
I also spent four and a half years in the First
Company Horse Guard in Avon, Connecticut, that
time being one of the greatest joys in my life.
The First Company Horse Guard is the oldest in
continuous service Calvary unit in the United
States of America. It was formed in 1778, and
has a long and honorable history. I bring with
me many years of motorcycle riding experience
that I hope to share with you, along with an
undying love of motorcycles and the brotherhood
of motorcyclists. To me it matters not what you
ride, but that you ride.
Prakash Kewalramani
Prakash Kewalramani was born in
Mumbai, India and has a passion for cooking
since he was 14, he is one of the owners of
Tanjore Indian Cuisine located in Fairfield, CT.
He says "I saw a
great potential in starting a magazine that will
focus on the New
England region". When
Kim Williams first introduced
me to her web site
www.culinarymenus.com,
I
saw that it was already offering
a lot of information
on the restaurants based on the types of
cuisines and the web site was easy to navigate""
Prakash is also
a very successful in his other career of
Information Technology. His dream is to start an
Indian Fast food in United Sates.
He and his wife Janita are fortunate to
start Tanjore in Fairfield. He adds "People in
Connecticut are fond of Indian food and they
love all kinds of Indian curries and breads".
Jill-Marie Daly
Jill-Marie Daly brings to
Excursionz Magazine her experience as a journalist and
International traveler. A graduate of Media & Cultural Studies and Cultural
Anthropology from European universities, Jill-Marie is dedicated to the Media
and Travel Industries. Jill-Marie’s experience includes newspaper, business
magazine and online journalism. Her specialties which she’s taking on for
Excursionz Magazine are proofreading and editing, copyediting, researching and
calendar events management. A traveler at heart with a passion for travel
writing, Jill-Marie may from time to time contribute a writing piece.
CT Bikers Guide - Motorcycling in CT
www.ctbikersguide.com
"Side Kick" - Marianne Rucci
Madison, CT
203-641-2960
sidekick@excursionzmagazine.com
Bill Dougal,
Illustrator
Artist Bill Dougal considers himself a ³fun artist², as opposed
to a ³fine
artist². He specializes in creating creating custom illustrations for
publication and advertising. His style ranges from a simple cartoony line to
a watercolor finish. His artwork has been commissioned for publications
like The Hartford Courant, The Valley Book. Hispanic Yellow Pages, and
Life & Health Advisor. He created a weekly cartoon for
the Hartford News called "Billy's People".
Caricature is a talent that he shares with
his wife Dori. Guests at corporate and private parties
and events are amazed as likenesses quickly develop.
Their style incorporates exaggeration and humor without being
unkind. Clients have included Southwest Airlines, Aetna, Mohegan Sun, and
The Greater Hartford Arts Council. They have won awards at National
Caricature Network conventions. A Hartford Art
School graduate, Lebanon resident, Dougal believes that
variety is the spice of life. His patchwork career also includes graphic
design and art teaching. He writes songs and sings in his acts; ³Fun
Songs From Bill¹s Hat", ³Crooner's Corner², ³Songs of
the West² and "Cowboy Billy".
Visit
Dougalart.com
Hadyn
Lassiter (Butch)
I was born in New
Haven CT in 1957 to a completely dysfunctional and therefore somewhat normal
family. A family that had no hopes or dreams for me
other than working at Stop and Shop as a custodial engineer. (Janitor) Given
these extremely low expectations for me I decided to arrange some of my own.
Having looked around at what life had to offer between bouts with incredibly
cheap ganja, photography was my pay check of choice.
This career choice came upon me like a flashback while standing on the bus stop
around the New Haven Green, waiting to take my place
along side the rest of those who made the wrong choice in life.
While waiting I was approached by a young man in desperate need of $50 bucks, he
being willing to part with someone’s new camera for that $50.
Seeing as the young man was in such a hurry (his feet wouldn’t stop moving as he
kept looking over his shoulder) I coughed up $30 and we called it a day. I never
saw someone run so fast..oh well anyway I had the tools of the trade,
sort of.
From there I went on to photograph Gran Prix racing in Europe for ten years,
F-1,Moto GP, World Rally and Moto/Cross for several of the top magazines
across the globe. I returned to Europe and Motorsports,
Fashion and Advertising photography until 1989 when I beat feet for home,
that being America. Since then I have been shooting
Harley Davidsons for magazines such as EasyRiders,
Ironworks, HotRod Bike and American Iron and anyone
else who comes to mind. I produced a long running play called My Daughter Aikkiko, which has been off Broadway and in my home now for 13 years.
I shot the “Paul Yaffe Originals” catalog, the industry standard in
design and photography as well as working with some really cool people like
Jessie James, Arlen Ness and Dave Nichols. I stopped shooting Harleys when
“Orange County Choppers” came on the Telly as I assumed the industry couldn’t
sink much lower. I photograph anything and anyone and
I do it right, that’s how we eat here in my home.
Along the way I have become a Master Black and White printer in the old
fashioned wet darkrooms, (why) and have been a digital
studio since 1997. You can see some of my work at my gallery on the DeviantArt
web site.
http://www.hadyn-lassiter.com
http://hunucru.deviantart.com/gallery
Alan
Sherry (camera shy)
Helping us with our web work... he is very patient and
trying not to be horrified with what the Webmistress has done to them.
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