Well, to start off, I’m full and happy after a lunch at Curry Corner. It’s a great Indian Food lunch buffet here in the Natomas area. All you can eat and all gooooood.

Last night we saw an advance screening of a new movie, City Island (web site, more info, even more info). It’s a very funny comedy with heart. We were laughing out loud and so was everyone else in the theater. Great writing, brisk pace, and funny! Go see it!

And let’s be sure to add some April birthday wishes for my sister Steph, my ex-sister-in-law Connie, and our friend Jared (the big 30).

And talking about Jared, he just started up a food-related blog over at JaredEatsWorld. Go visit and tell him stevenology sent you!

Last Friday night we went to see the Sacramento Rivercats baseball game. It was fun, always is, but they lost. They choked at the end. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

OK, faithful readers, what do you think of all THAT?

We didn’t take pictures of everything but we did take a lot. You can read about the trip here, then be sure to check out the pictures (five pages worth) here on the photo page. Click on the first small photo to see the larger image and then you can either click through them, or use the arrow keys, or watch the slide show. Be sure to look at all five pages too! Have fun and leave me a comment afterwards!!

We didn’t get pictures of every music act we watched at the festival, but you can read about it here (part one) and here (part two) if you want the play-by-play. It’s a gripping read, and one you might not soon forget. Or I could be wrong. In any event the pictures from the trip (three pages worth) are here on the photo page. Click on the first small photo to see the larger image and then you can either click through them or watch the slide show. Have fun and leave me a comment afterwards!!

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Saturday September 5
After a year of waiting, today was finally the first real day of the 2009 Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. Yeah! We monorailed it over to the festival grounds, and headed for the hospitality room. Included with our Gold Passes was three day access to this room, an oasis with free snacks, drinks, tables and chairs, and indoor clean restrooms. That last item become more important later in the day since the restrooms on the festival grounds can get a little funky. But we don’t worry about that. Anyway, we perused the day’s schedule for the 15 or so different stages and decided to first see a band called Everest.

We watched five or six songs. They were good but not awesome and we left, wanting to get a good spot for Katy Perry at the main stage. Don’t laugh! I know she’s kind of a joke but the show was pretty entertaining, better than she comes across on CD. I wouldn’t spend money on her, that didn’t change. But she was campy and fun and that worked for the 75 or so minutes she performed. After that sugary pop, we headed into “the pit’, the Exhibition Hall stage, down in the basement of one of the buildings for a set by Sick Puppies, an Australian band that our pal Jared had recommended. They were energetic and noisy, very in-your-face modern rock, but the hooks were there and they did it really well. We ended staying for their whole set. A nice surprise.

Next it was time for some comedy. We saw a few different Washington-based comics performing routines under the name of Lo-Ball. It was funny. Not hilarious but still funny and we enjoyed it. Then we saw a new artist, singer-songwriter Eric Hutchinson, who we both liked a lot. We’ll be watching for his CD. He was deceptively simple and his catchy folk-pop songs were good. The crowd was singing along, so obviously we were catching up with them here, but it was a high point of the day. He improvised a rain song when it rained for about five minutes. Oh, and I should mention while I think about it that we were eating on and off, all of the festival days. The hospitality room always had food. And besides that, there was plenty of festival food. Petra’s favorite was the “Green Cossack”, which is cooked red potatoes smothered in a creamy dill sauce. I tended toward the Pad Thai, a little spicy, with a little peanut sauce added. Mmmm. And other stuff too, as I’ve said before, “You gotta eat or you’ll die!”.

Petra headed out to watch a drumming and dancing group called Cobu, while I went to the other end of the festival grounds for a band called Uh Huh Her. I’d heard a song by them somewhere but after watching part of their set, I wasn’t impressed. It was allright but nothing special. And in a festival with all these stages, that meant venturing out again to see what else was happening. I hooked up with Petra coming out of her event, and we went loooking around. We caught a song or two by old school hip-hoppers De La Soul and we both thought it was pretty awful so on we went. We saw the very end of Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground. They looked interesting but we only had a little to go on. Still, overall it was a great day with a lot of cool music and fun. Yahooey! We all went back to the hotel, poured a beverage and headed up to the Cloud Room on 11 to talk about the day and look over tomorrow’s schedule.

Sunday September 6
We got to the festival a little damp, thanks to some rain and puddles on the way. After a snack, Petra and Robin went to an art event where you can design an outfit from various articles of clothing, vintage and otherwise. There will be a picture of their outfits posted here when I get the pictures done. Check back for that. For now, keep your eyes right here! Well, keep reading, I mean. So I hung out and watched. Then Petra and I went to the main stage to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. We have an album of theirs that is a little strange but pretty cool. They sound kind of like a more upbeat Siouxie And The Banshees if that helps. We watched most of their set and then went to see some comedy. Petra is a big fan of Reggie Watts, and his set was very surreal and pretty funny. The other comics were Matt Braugner and Todd Barry. Matt was the funnier of the two but both were good.

Of course, we were snacking and eating during the day too. Oh yeah. Then it was back to the main stage for Michael Franti and Spearhead. We have all (or at least most) of his CDs and have seen him a couple times before in concert. He always entertains and his music is great. I really like his Yell Fire CD but the others are good too, for the most part. Anyway, this was another great live show. He performed many songs from his latest album, and a good assortment from other albums too. For the last song, pop/rock star Jason Mraz came out and sung along with Michael. It’s hard to go wrong with Michael Franti in concert. After a short break, it was time for the day’s headliner (on the mainstage anyway). Petra is a big fan of Jason Mraz, the headliner, and I like him too. We had a good spot to watch from, fairly close but out of the big packed mess right in front. Jason entertained the crowd, doing most of his latest hit album and other crowd-pleasing songs too. Lots of kids in the audience were singing along. Big fun, and a great way to end day two of the festival. Then it was back to the hotel and, you guessed it, a beverage and up to the Cloud Room to talk about the day and figure out who to see tomorrow. Mama O and Liz showed up too, along with Larry, Robin, Petra and me.

Monday September 7
Another day, another monorail to the festival. Dry this time, although the day did drizzle a couple times later on. You know the drill, our first stop was the hospitality lounge for some food. Then we watched a few songs from Anomie Belle. It was raining a bit but we were under a tree with umbrellas so it wasn’t bad. Then we wandered into the art exhibits. Earlier in the week we had built some paper houses for an open art exhibit. The winners were to be determined by random selection. We didn’t win. I guess we weren’t random enough. Then we went to a different stage for some songs by Visqueen. They were ok but not more than that, so we ventured into the Sky Church stage for part of a set by Point Juncture WA. This stage is inside the Experience Music Project museum and has a huge, and I do mean huge, video screen behind the band, showing electronic patterns. Very nice. Next up, we staked out a good spot at the main stage for the set by the Black Eyed Peas. I’m not a big fan of the latest album, but like some of the other stuff. We saw them in the same venue about four or five years ago and they were good, and sure enough, this time they were good too. Even though some of the songs are dumb, the stage show was decent and they worked it. So, better than I expected. Not great but very entertaining.

After that, we watched Forgive Durden, a band that had been recommended to us. They were performing their rock opera live but we weren’t feeling it at all. We moved along and then we stopped in at the beer wine garden and saw part of a set by The Devil Makes Three. Good-timey folk music, nothing deep but they were having a good time. A few songs were enough. Next we went to see some comedy. It was Doug Benson doing an act called The Benson Interruptions, where he has other comedians on and then as they tell stories he interrupts and asks questions, makes comments, etc. It was pretty funny. Next it was back to the main stage for Franz Ferdinand. I liked their hits on the radio but never bought any of their music. But seeing them live, I was impressed. They were really good live and totally rocked the house. There was crowd surfing all over the place and they played a tight and smoking hot set. They surprised me with how good they were. The headliner after that at the Broad Street stage was Metric, a band I’ve been liking a lot recently. I saw them in the same place a few years ago and was impressed with their mix of modern quirky rock, great woman singer, and cool interesting songs and lyrics. And they didn’t disappoint. We were a little ways back and the first few songs the vocals were a little under-volumed, but they played a very good set. They played most of the songs from the great 2009 album Fantasies, and also some from their previous three albums. A great “unknown” band. And that was the end to yet another great Bumbershoot Festival. Awesome! I can hardly wait until next year!!

Tuesday September 8
Not much to report here. It was a bus ride to the airport, then a quick and uneventful flight home.

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We recently went to Seattle for a week, as we have done over Labor Day for the last nine or so years. The big attraction is the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. It’s a three day festival with entertainment on about 15 stages, plus a variety of other stuff going on too. You can find out more at www.bumbershoot.org. Anyway, between that and some side events, most of the week in Seattle is taken up, and in a great way. But we managed to fit in some other fun things too. Here’s what we did…

Tuesday September 1
We caught the plane to Seattle in the morning. A nice quick flight. Then we took the Seattle city bus from the airport to the hotel. Lucky us, the bus stops right across the street from our hotel, The Camlin. It was before check-in time but the hotel stashed our luggage so we could explore the city for a while. We walked a bit and then took the monorail to the Seattle Center area. Ninety seconds of zipping above the traffic, nice concept! We walked through the center, looking at the preparations for the upcomong Bumbershoot Festival, and walked over to Kidd Valley burgers for a lunch of gardenburgers and onion rings dipped in tartar sauce. Next stop was down the street to Easy Street Records, a nice new-and-used music store where we always find things we need want.

It was sprinkling off and on but we stayed pretty dry and walked over to the State Liquor Store to pick up some supplies for the week. Washington State has some weird liquor laws. A state employee sold us some booze! Between the CDs we bought and the necessary liquid supplies, the old backpack was getting pretty darned heavy. But we bravely traveled on, walking a bit to Silver Platters record store. Of course we found a few items there too. Really, we are just trying to stimulate the economy. If you’ll believe that.

We took the thousand pound backpack and hopped on the monorail back toward the hotel. Once there, we got our luggage and unpacked. Then we took a walk down to the Seattle waterfront. That’s alway pretty and pleasant. From there it was just a short walk to Mama’s Mexican Food and, hey, you gotta eat! So we had a tasty meal and since it was still happy hour we had a couple margaritas. We hung out there for a while and decided, that since we were not driving, we would have one more margarita. We had to change tables due to a party coming in, but because we did that, they gave us the margarita free! I was ready to change tables all night! Then we wandered out into the evening. We walked to a grocery store and bought a little fruit, cheese, and crackers to get us through at least part of the week. Then we walked back to the hotel and took a beverage up to the 11th floor “Cloud Room“, with glass on three sides and a nice view and a great place to relax at the end of a fun day.

Wednesday September 2
We had some fruit in the room for breakfast and then headed out into our second-favorite city of Seattle. Down near the waterfront, across the street from Pike Place Market, we had a snack at Piroshky Piroshky. Great filled dough with lots of options for the filling. Then we took a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, about 35 or so minutes each way. It’s such a peaceful and pretty ride on the water. We walked around on the island for a while, perusing the tourist shops. Eventually we ended up at the end of the area and, lo and behold, we came across a little place called Emmy’s Vegehouse. Yow! A totally vegetarian shack with some tables, we were all over that. Pretty good food, too. Good thing we were going to walk off all the food on this trip. Then we took the ferry back to downtown Seattle. Surprise, right near Pike’s market was another record store. What could we do? Then we walked around the huge Pike Place Market a bit and headed back. A quick stop at the Old Navy for a scarf for Petra and then back to the hotel.

We taste-tested some of that cheese and crackers and determined they we really good. So we tasted some more! Then we headed down the block to see Wicked, the big hit play. I had read the book and we’d heard good things about the play. The theater there, the Paramount, is really nice too. Long story short, the play was great, we both really liked it. The book was dificult in spots but the play was great, clever, fun, and really well done. By then it was getting late but we were hungry. Lucky for us, a block away is Cyber-Dogs, a really good vegetarian hot dog place. This place is so cool and so small. But the topping combinations she puts on the dogs and unique and delicious. I love this place. Then, after a long day, and nicely stuffed, we went back to the hotel.

Thursday September 3
We started the day again with some fruit in the room to get us started. Then we monorailed to the Experience Music Project, the world’s coolest music museum. We spent a little while there and saw the new exhibit and also played a little on some instruments in their Sound Lab. After that, we met up with our friends Larry and Robin, who had flow into Seattle that morning. Our friend Mama O and her various posse members were due to arrrive later today and over the next couple days also. Anyway, the four of us checked out the Bumbershoot Festival preparations and walked a block or two to the Bamboo Garden vegetarian chinese food. Hundreds of menu items and no meat at all. Wish the whole world was like that

Full again, we monorailed back to the hotel and walked a while to the Pioneer Square area. Today was the First Thursday Art Walk so we looked at a bunch of art in a bunch of galleries. There were vendors too, of course. And lots of people. We were hoping to meet up with Mama O but it didn’t happen that day. We did, however walk a while and hooked up with a different Mama. Yep, we were back at Mama’s Mexican Food! Ole indeed! More food, a few drinks, and a nice walk back to the hotel. The four of us headed up to the cloud room to relax and talk. A nice end to another fine day.

Friday September 4
The four of us headed out into Seatlle, first taking a walk to a downtown jewelry store that Robin had read about. We looked around there for a few minutes and then went on to the grocery store for some supplies. Soon after that we were on the monorail to the Seattle Center once again. We had a gardenburger lunch at Kidd Valley and then went back through the Seattle Center and first thing, picked up our Gold Passes for the upcoming (tomorrow) Festival. We touched base with John, the Gold Pass leader. What a nice guy, he remembered us and said he thought he saw us earlier in the year in Palm Springs! Small world and sure enough, that would have been on our Indio trip. Anyway, he was great the whole time this year, as always, making sure everything went fine for us.

Then we headed to the Bumbershoot Visual Arts exhibits. They open them up a day early and it is MUCH less crowded so we always go see them on Friday. And as always they had a variety of interesting art. Some if it was strange but in a very good way, so that’s cool. Four, five, or was it six large rooms of visual art, that’s a nice way to spend an afternoon. After that, we walked a bit and ended up at a nearby coffee shop where we had some liquid refreshment and a needed caffeine boost. And then it was back to the Seattle Center for the advance preview of the Film Festival. During the Bumbershoot Festival, there are three days of short films, but the preview is a less-crowded and more relaxing way to get a taste of it. Usually the Bumbershoot festival has so much else going on, that we don’t get to the film portion. With the Friday preview, though, we do see some of the films! Then it was back to the hotel, another nice day. And Bumbershoot starts tomorrow!!

Stay tuned for part 2 – including the actual festival! In the meantime…

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Thursday June 25

And we hit the road running. Well, driving actually. Portland is a ten or eleven hour drive from our NorCal home base. On our way, we stopped in Yreka, right up near the top of California on the I-5, at a small place in a mall, called Linda’s Soup Café.  We had stumbled on this place a few years back when we drove to Seattle and somehow remembered it. Linda’s is not your usual mall food. They even have a vegetarian menu with a whole bunch of items that looked good. Imagine us vegetarians having too many things to choose from!  Anyway, fully refreshed, we headed north again. We stopped in Southern Oregon for gas and remembered the unusual law in Oregon that says you can’t pump your own gas. So we let the man service us and headed north once again. Round about dinnertime we pulled into Portland. Or I should say the suburb of Lake Oswego, where our hotel was. We checked in and unpacked. We got on the internet with our laptops and although the Ethernet connection worked the WiFi didn’t, meaning only one of us could be online at once. That wouldn’t suffice for the whole week, so we had someone from the hotel check it out and they got it working within minutes. Yay! We’ve had Internet problems at hotels a few times, and this was the fastest it ever got fixed. The room was nice too, and the rate was very cheap for a Hilton Garden Inn. In fact, the Hotel situation was great for the whole week. But I’m jumping ahead. Then we walked a block or so to a small and local Thai food restaurant called Thai Basil. Coincidentally, there is a Thai place in our town with the same name. No relation. Both are good though!

Friday June 26

Today was the first day of the Lake Oswego Art Festival, which was one of the reasons we made the trip. The festival was split between a building complex and a park. In the building (and a huge tent behind it), there was lots and lots of art. The theme was mosaic and there were amazing examples of that, but there were also paintings, metal work, ceramics, glass, and other art. We’re talking hundreds of pieces. Then, at the park there were 60-80 vendors showing and selling various types of arts and crafts. There were food vendors too, and music. Mid-day we grabbed some lunch nearby. Petra got a sandwich at an Italian deli and I got a chili relleno burrito (never heard of that before) at Senor Taco and we met at a table in the middle to eat. We took a break from the festival in the afternoon and went to Trader Joes to get some breakfast food and snacks to keep in the hotel room. We had a fridge and microwave, along with the aforementioned Internet and one of the most important things a hotel room can have, an in-room coffee-maker. On our way back to the festival we stopped at a chain Mexican restaurant called Azteca. They said it was a chain. It looked like one but I’d never seen any others. Anyway, just that day they had started a special with two enchiladas, beans, and rice for only $6.99 so both we ordered that. What a bargain! It almost made up for the $8.75 margaritas. Ouch! But they were huge so I guess it was ok. Then back to the  art festival. The music for the evening was Marv and Rindy Ross, better known (maybe) as the 80s band Quarterflash. My wife Petra had always liked that band and had seen them in her early years, so we watched the current version. They did do a few of their 80s hits but everything else was more recent.

Saturday June 27

We ate breakfast (some fruit) in the room and then had the free hotel shuttle take us to the local light rail station (aka The Max). Portland has a great public transit system, much much better than the meager one here. We took the light rail train downtown. We’d seen most of the art festival yesterday so we decided to start exploring Portland today. Big surprise, we checked out a record store first. But we didn’t buy anything there. Yeah, how often does that happen! Then we had a pizza slice at Hotlips Pizza. Mine veggie slice was pretty decent but Petra found her plain cheese a little lacking I think. We wandered around “The Pearl” district downtown and looked at shops and walked. One of our “must” destinations was Everyday Music, a huge new and used record and CD store. I love that place and we spent quite a while there and found a number of items to purchase. We strolled through a couple art galleries, including the Bullseye Glass Gallery, which is always cool. We stopped at the Deshuttes Brewpub and had an appetizer and some liquid refreshment. I had the Black Butte Porter, one of my most favorite dark beers. Our friends Larry and Robin were scheduled to get into town to hang and explore with us and, well, also, their son Brian lives there. Maybe that had something to do with it too. We all checked out the amazingly huge Powells Books (a square block with multiple levels, you could easily get lost in there). Then the five of us stopped at a small local Lebanese Restaurant for dinner. We got a quick look at Brian’s nearby condo and then all went to see him at work. He works as a bartender at The Lotus. He suggested a concoction of about a third Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, a third orange juice, and a third cranberry juice. It was mild and very tasty. It’s amazing how the Captain works with so many things.

Sunday June 28

Happy birthday to our granddaughter Josephine, who turns eight years old today. We started the day again with some fruit (and a scone) in our room. Ok, so now we’re ready to go. First stop was the Bullseye Resource Center. This is the headquarters for the Bullseye Glass Company, makers of the high-quality art glass that Petra (and others of course) use for their glass art projects. We learned about the “Bull Pen”, the bargain glass room and had a nice visit there. Larry, Robin, and Brian met us there and we all headed over to the Screen Door, a small but inviting local restaurant for breakfast. It was really good food. Then we continued our exploration of the city, first walking the Alberta District, then the Hawthorne area. After all that walking, shopping, and wandering, we were hungry again (surprise) and had dinner in the area at Vege Thai, a vegetarian Thai food place. It was good but not great. By that time it was getting late, but the day was not over. Brian’s band was having a rehearsal and we were invited. Sure, the rehearsal started around 11:00 PM but they had a great rehearsal/studio space and we went for a little while. They are a good band, but it’s a little funny to hear young kids doing that British Blues aka early Led Zepellin. Still, we liked it and thanks to Brian for letting us be there. Rock on, dude…

Monday June 29

After a small snack in the hotel room, we went to have lunch with a high school friend of Petra’s (named Margaret) and her husband Tim. We ended up spending the whole afternoon with them, talking. It was a nice visit. Then we met back  up with Larry and Robin at a nearby movie theater, the Laurelhurst, to see Adventureland, a recent film. The movie was entertaining and we all enjoyed it. But the really cool thing was that the theater served beer and wine and food that you could take into the theater. Some of the rows of seats had been replaced by tables so you could set your food/drink there while you enjoyed the movie. We had a carafe of wine (the ladies) and a pitcher of Oatmeal Stout beer (da boyz) and a couple slices of pretty tasty pizza, all in a movie theater. How cool is that? We sure need some theaters like that here in Sactown! After the movie we took a stroll down the street and paid a brief visit to a large record and CD store, Music Millenium. I found one item before they closed. More music, more fun!

Tuesday June 30

We met Larry, Robin, and Brian for breakfast at the Cricket Café. Yep, another delicious breakfast. I could do this everyday. At least until I went broke. We decided to use a combination of The Max (the light rail) and the streetcar to get around. We went to the Rose Garden, a famous tourist attraction. Lots and lots of roses. I mean lots. We’ll have pictures on the site one of these days. Also at the same general location was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Holocaust Memorial. We saw both of those and they were both impressive. The Holocaust Memorial was especially moving when we read some of the quotes from people who were there at the time. We had a shaved ice and headed on. After a walk back to the condo, we caught the light rail and the streetcar and got off near the Rogue Brewery. We had a snack and I had a couple pints of the Shakespeare Stout. It was heavenly. I mean really delicious. Oh, yeah. Then we rode the Sky Tram, a tram on a wire that goes up the side of a mountain. Yikes! But it was enclosed and it was smooth and there was art at the top. So it was good. Then we headed to dinner at a nice place, a little more upscale maybe than the rest of the trip. It was The Farm and I had the best veggie burger I have ever had, totally different and miles ahead of any other. Go there. Get one. Then we went over to the Doug Fir for a cocktail. It’s a combination of modern retro and log cabin. Weird, no, not really. It was pretty nice. Then we headed back to Brian’s work at The Lotus and spent a few minutes and a drink there. We said goodbye to Brian since we were leaving in the morning. Then after we got back to the car it was another farewell, this time to Larry and Robin. Then back to the hotel for the last night.

Wednesday July 1

We hit the road for home. Bye-bye to Portland, a great city that I liked a lot. We stopped at an unremarkable diner for lunch and got home in the evening. One last meal out, at 524 Mexican, was in order. Then the vacation was over. We had a great time, I loved it!!!!!

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Then we met up with our Santa Cruz pals Larry and Robin and had dinner at the other San Francisco Herbivore location. After that went to a play, Woody Allen’s The Floating Light Bulb. He wrote it back in the 1960s but it has endured. It was a good drama, well performed, with some humor in it too. Then we drove the couple hours back to our own city. It had been a really nice, fun day. But that was about to change. We got home around midnight or a little after, and discovered that my cell phone was missing. We had looked at it to see the time after the play so we only had a couple hours to account for where it could have been. After a thorough search around our car, garage, and house, it was nowhere to be found. So, we decided to go back to San Francisco the next day and look for it. Yes, two more hours driving. Each direction.

So the next morning we dropped one car off for a scheduled servicing and headed back to San Fran in the other car. Would we find the phone or would it be a wild duck chase? First we stopped outside the theater, where our friends car was parked, and checked the street, the gutter, and the sidewalk where we had walked. Nope. Then we drove over to where we were dropped at our car. We checked the gutter, under the cars now parked there, the sidewalk, a pizza place at the general location. And whata ya know? Nope. No phone. Well, that was everywhere we had been except inside the theater. But that wasn’t open yet and we couldn’t tell when anyone would get there except there was a performance that evening. So we potentially had five or six hours to wait. Well, you gotta eat, right? Herbivore was right around the corner so we ate there again, three times in two days (two different locations). And it was good again. That helped.

We decided to go a few places to kill the day and maybe even make it fun. We went to Scrap, where Petra always finds some very cheap, cool art and other supplies and other stuff too. Then we went to a junkyard place where they sold “recycled” just-about-anything. Including art glass, which Petra will use for an art project. We still had some time to kill so we went back to check and see if the theater was open yet. Nope. So we went into a nearby coffee shop, The Coffee Bar, and had a refreshing drink. Then we took a walk and found a couple bookstores and a strange indie-only record store. Really, nothing on a major label! Anyway, then we walked back to the theater and there were finally some people there. They let us look for the phone but again no luck. We had looked everywhere. So we drove the long drive back home. Other than that phone thing, we had a good time.

The next day we went to see a local (Davis, CA) performance of the play Jesus Christ Superstar, which was entertaining, and then Petra’s parents invited us to dinner so we went to Petra’s favorite restaurant (and one of mine) Todo Un Poco. They had a large, eclectic menu and everything I have tried has been either very good or really great. I highly recommend it! But now the weekend was over and still no phone. Guess I will have to file a claim, since I did have insurance on it. I’m still bummed out about it, there was a memory card in it with 350 pictures, only some of which I still have elsewhere. But nothing critical, so it’s not the end of the world. At least we did some fun stuff this weekend!

But just in case you want to know or comment, here are some things I did in the last week or so:

Today we had a great all-you-can-eat Indian food buffet lunch at Pooja in West Sacramento. Man, it was really good, go there! The we went to friend Jared‘s new house near there. He and his girlfriend Ashleigh just bought it and it is very nice, it should be a great place for them.

Yesterday we worked on the front lawn for part of the day, it looks much better. Then we went to the Sacramento Kings game. They retired Vlade Divac’s jersey in a really nice ceremony, and then the Kings were two points ahead with 1.7 seconds left. And the damn other team tossed in a three-pointer at the buzzer. How painful is that?!?!

Monday we took one of the cars in for a 30,000 servicing. Petra name-dropped a different dealer and the one that we took it to gave us a discount! Way to go, PB! Then Petra had her weekly mentoring some kids at the nearby school.

Sunday we went to another Kings game and they beat a very good team. Way to go Kings!

Saturday we worked in the back yard for most of the day and got some work done there. Looks nice, thought there is still plenty to be done

Right now I’m listening to a Tom Waits bootleg video that is hella cool. It’s mostly from the 70s and 80s and is vintage Tom. If you like him, you’ll know what I mean.

And the very first sneak peak for the upcoming Bumbershoot festival was announced today. Check it out at www.bumbershoot.org, lots more artists to be added and announced in the next few months.

Also, Prince was recently on the Jay Leno Tonight Show for three nights in a row. Did anyone else see that? If so, what did you think?

See that’s the kind of rivetting ranting that was part of the old blog. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…

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Friday, February 13th
We got an early start since we had over 500 miles to go. But after a while on the road we were hungry, so we stopped at Pea Soup Anderson’s for breakfast. They are known for, guess what, their pea soup, but I don’t like pea soup and it was breakfast after all. A pea soup omelet? Pea soup waffles? Pea soup benedict? I don’t think so. We had a normal breakfast. Well, if normal includes waitresses that are very reminiscent of Frau Blucher (video) in the movie Young Frankenstein. And if you haven’t seen that movie then you must see it. Now. Meanwhile, full and happy, we headed onward toward the promised warmth of Indio. Imagine our surprise when we drove through  the “grapevine” portion of I-5. It was snowing! Holy guacamole! We got through the snowstorm and continued on. (and yes, pictures will be on the web site soon). We stopped later at a taqueria for a so-so snack. It wsa raining pretty steady now and the weather basically had been bad almost the whole drive. But lo, about a half hour from Indio the rain stopped and it was sunny! Yay! We used Petra’s Dad’s expert maps and thorough phone directions to get to the condo. He met us and we checked in. They were staying a little less than a mile away, for two months. That’s a l-o-n-g vacation. Anyway, they invited us for dinner. We waited a bit for Larry and Robin to get there, and then had a very delicious meal. Thanks!

Saturday, February 14th
We had a leisurely morning and Petra went for a swim. The pool was only about 12-15 feet from our door, which was very convenient. The swimming helps her since she is still felling the effects of the surgeries and recontructions of the last few years. Then we all headed over to nearby Palm Desert for the Palm Desert Street Fair, which was a bunch (a big bunch) of vendors selling everything from produce to kitchen accessories to quick food to golf stuff to well pretty much everything. We spent a little time there and all had a vegetarian hot dog for lunch. Then it was off to see some art galleries. We all enjoy doing that, and every gallery is different. Next was a visit to a few thrift stores. Larry was looking for a funky tuxedo for an Oscar party, but we all used it as an excuse to look at some throwaways and junk valuable collectibles. We also had found out about a nearby record and CD store, so we went there to check it out too. We bought a few assorted items. We always do! And of course all those activities had made us hella hungry. After quite a bit of searching, we found a mexican restaurant close to the condo and had a big meal. The service was slow but luckily we had a pitcher of margaritas to help with that wait. It did help, too. The food, though slow, was really good. Cheesy and tasty and large portions. Mmm. Then we went to a nearby mexican supermarket (grande mercado?) and picked up some food for breakfasts, snacks, some Captain Morgan for good measure, and headed back to our home for the week. we relaxed and visited and played some cards for a while too. A nice day, wouldn’t you say?

Sunday February 15th
We decided to drive to Idyllwild, about 45-60 minutes away and a long way up. Its a small town in the mountains with a lot of arts, crafts, shops, etc. And snow. About a foot and a half of it. Brrr. We went from about minus 22 elevation in Indio up over 6000 feet and down just a bit to get there. Desert/mountain whiplash almost happened, I’m just saying. Actually it was a lot of fun up there. We wandered around and looked at art, including some of the best glass art I had ever seen. On the way back three of us saw a huge Chihuly glass piece in the corner window of a buiding. We all yelled “turn around!” and once parked we went into the Imago Gallery, a very impressive high-end gallery with lots of Chihuly glass as well as a whole bunch of other art: painting, glass, sculpture, mixed media, a lot of it and really good. Of course we had to be hungry at that point and finally ended up at Ciro’s Italian Restaurant. It was pretty good too. I had a tasty salad and some killer vegatarian lasagna and a glass of Chianti and what’s not to like about that?! Then we headed back to the condo, had a few drinks, played some cards, and called it a day (which it was).

Monday February 16th
We decided to check out a nearby Indian casino. Like almomst all casinos, it was too smokey. And like most casinos, the cheap blackjack table was double-full, in hopes that you would play the empty high-stakes table. Nuh-uh, no thanks. We played some slots and lost a few bucks and that was that there. The four of us went to three or four thrift stores to see what kind of not-quite-necessary junk we might find. After that it was dinner time and Petra‘s parents had invited us all over to have dinner. Petra’s mom made a really good dinner and we visited for a while.

Tuesday February 17th
In the late morning, Petra took a swim and I joined her in the very warm pool for a few minutes. Larry and Robin were headed to Joshua Tree National Park to take a 5 or 7 mile hike. Yow! Too long and too much for us wimps. Petra and I went shopping for a bit with her parents, including lunch at Schlotzsky’s Deli. When we got back, Petra and I took a walk for a while, at which point Larry and Robin got back.The four of us went out to dinner, at a vegan restaurant that Larry had found, called Native Foods. None of us are vegan, but we are all vegetarians. The food was nicely presented and really good. The place was nothing fancy. But overall we all liked it. And then it was back to the condo.

Wednesday February 18th
Larry and Robin headed back home this morning. They left their Joshua Tree pass with us in case we wanted to go, and this afternoon we did drive over there. First, though, we had a nice breakfast at a local restaurant. Once at the Park, we took an interesting one-mile hike, then drove up to the high point, where we could look out for miles, seeing the Salton Sea, the San Andreas fault, the highest peak in Southern California, and more, including some snow on the ground. What was that, three times we saw snow on this desert trip? Then we stopped at a different part of the park and took a short hike, about a third of a mile. The first hike was better, with huge rock formations and rock hills. The desert is a weird place. They say the temperature can change 40 degrees or more in a day. But it was nice today and we enjoyed our visit. On the way back we saw a sign that said “Dig your own cactus – 59 cents“. It drew Petra in like a moth to a flame. But once we got in there, turns out it was not exactly true. Can you believe it? Yeah, ok, me too. Turns out you get to use a pair of tongs and take a small cactus froma plastic tray to a pot. Oooh, exciting, isn’t it? Well, they got us. We didn’t do that but did buy a couple small cacti for a few bucks total. Then it was back to Indio for a dinner with Petra’s parents. We visited and played a board/card game for a while and that was another day done.

Thursday February 19th
We had a short visit ot the pool in the late morning. Man, they keep the water so warm in that pool. Like a bath. Nice. Petra’s Dad had wanted us to take a visit to the local WorldMark property in Indio, so we drove over there and took a look. It seemed very nice too. Then we drove to nearby Cathedral City for a very tasty lunch at El Gallito, a family-owned Mexican restaurant. Next we went to nearby Perez Road where there were some galleries, consignment shops, etc to check out. Our next stop was down the road to the Palm Spring Art Museum. Admission was free on Thursday afternoon, and we took advantage of that. This was a really impressive museum. We had a guided tour of their glass gallery, where a docent explained about each piece. I enjoyed that. Then we saw their huge Wayne Thiebaud exhibit. The irony is, this artist lives in Sacramento like we do, but we saw his work over 500 miles away. I had only seen his pastry paintings, but here they had lots of other types of works, from sketches, to landsacapes, to some off-kilter cityscapes that we actually pretty cool. Then we wandered to the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit of photos. These were portraits of celebrities and they were really good. I enjoyed nearly everything we saw in this art museum. Much recommended. And then it was time for the Palm Springs Villagefest. They block off four blocks of the road and it is lined with booths and vendors of all types. We bought some brightly-colored “rebar art” for the back yard. You have to see it to understand. We had some local vegetarian food there too, then it was back to the condo.

Friday February 20th
Today we headed home. We stopped midway at a pizza place for a lunch buffet. And. lo and behold, there just happened to be a new and used CD store right down the mall. We bought a small stack and headed back to our home. It was a nice week, warm and pleasant.

What do you think, any comments?

So, naturally, we invited 30 or so of our friends (and a few other people) and had a bash. There was food and drink, of course, but so much more. The guest of honor was Barack, as you can see in the party photos. And he was smiling the whole time so it must have been a good great party! We had it all: the worlds most difficult puzzle, pig stacking, a pool table, musical instruments, and of course the legendary Big Bowl of Bushisms, a bowl filled with hundreds of the dense and dumb things that former president Bush has said over the years. And he said enough dumb things to keep the party rolling for a long time. More about Bushisms here and here. But the best thing about the party was all the great people who attended. Thanks for coming, if you were here. If not, as Mr T used to say, “I pity the fool”. Hahaha!

Now – check out the party photos, and you will see what a happening event it was. Click on any thumbnail photo to view a larger one. While viewing the larger ones, you can click on the right arrow in the upper right of the screen to go to the next one. Or there’s a slideshow option up there too. Ok, sure, some of the pix are a bit blurry, but then again some of the people were too. But it’s ok, we accept all people, be they blurry or crystal clear. Plus, you can get to those photos and many more on the photos page. But just don’t think you can find out any of the 48 solutions to the puzzle by looking at these photos. We’ve blocked out the solution, you’ll just have to work the puzzle for yourself. If you dare…

Were you there? Were you square? Did you love those photos? Why not leave me a comment?