Category: My Life

Last 70 Music Items We Bought!

April 18, 2009
MusicMy Life
1 Comment

How exciting! How fun! Check out the music below and leave a comment if you have one.

First off, I picked these up today at National Record Store Day:

Waits, Tom – Live From The Glitter And Doom Tour vinyl 7″
Metric – Help I’m Alive vinyl 7″ Picture disc
Pretenders, The – Break Up The Concrete vinyl Red vinyl 7″
Carlile, Brandi – Downpour vinyl 7″
Spektor, Regina – Begin To Hope vinyl 2-LP with nine bonus tracks
Lenka – Gravity Rides Everything vinyl 7″
Greene, Jackie – Honey I Been Thinking About You CD Free promo

And then there are these recent additions too:

Harding, John Wesley – Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead CD w/ bonus live disc
Taylor, James – Covers CD
Sweet, Matthew – Sunshine Lies CD
Feist – Let it Die CD
Feist – Open Season CD
Prince – Indigo Nights – Live Sessions CD Included in book
Groundation – Each One Teach One CD CD-R
Groundation – We Free Again CD CD-R
King, B.B. – One Kind Favor CD CD-R
Death Cab For Cutie – Something About Airplanes CD Ltd Edition #2413 with bonus disc
Rundgren, Todd – Arena CD Advance promo
Jack’s Mannequin – The Glass Passenger CD With bonus DVD
Pink – Funhouse CD
Green, Al – The Definitive Greatest Hits CD Advance promo
Jimmy Eat World – Static Prevails CD Two bonus tracks
And there’s much more after the jump!

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New pix! 2006 Seattle, Bumbershoot, OR, CA, yeah!

April 3, 2009
BumbershootFriendsMy LifeSeattleTravel

Finally!! And it’s about time!! The pictures are online from the 2006 trip to Seattle (including the Bumbershoot Festival, more Seattle, Portland and Eugene (Oregon), and northern California. After only two and a half years! Yeah, baby! Friends Larry and Robin were there, as well as Mama O and some of her friends too. You can see what we did during the trip, our photos, and Larry and Robin’s photos too. Check it out now, you’ll be glad you did, I guarantee it or your money back!!

A Day In The Life – Take 4

April 1, 2009
BumbershootFoodFriendsMusicMy BlogMy LifeSports

Remember my old blog, stevenology 1.0 (aka stevenology classic)? I used to detail the day to day doings of my boring life. And a few people even liked it! But it was a nightmare to try to keep up and frankly it was too wild and exciting for readers with a weak heart. I had to stop out of fear for their very health.

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.

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Have You Read This Book?

March 20, 2009
BooksComedyMy Life

The book is Steve Martin’s “Born Standing Up“. I’ve always been a big fan of his, from way back in the days of the “wild and crazy guy”, happy feet, “let’s get small”, and the arrow through the head. Remember? Well, I guess that depends on how old you are. And of course since then he has made many worthy films too.

This book follows his life from childhood into his beginnings with magic and comedy. Then into his becoming famous and how it affected him. Finally he covers why he decided to never do stand-up comedy again. The book ends there, hopefully he will write another one someday that will deal with his life after stand-up. This book is written in an easy-to-read style with some subtle humor, although you do get the down side too. It was a quick read and an enjoyable one.

Here’s what Elvis Presley said about Steve Martin in 1971:

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New pix! The Indio Trip

March 15, 2009
FriendsMy LifeTravel
1 Comment

We recently spent a week in Indio, in Southern California. Petra’s parents rented a house there and let us use their nearby time-share for a week, with friends Larry and Robin there for five of the seven days. And now the photos are on the web site! Check ‘em out here and leave a comment if you want to. Some of the pictures may be a little blurry or fuzzy but then isn’t everybody sometimes? Anyway, just take a look.

Of course, you can read about what we did on the trip too, check it out here. Have fun!!

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Avenue Q – Not Sesame Street At All

March 12, 2009
ComedyMy Life
3 Comments

The other night we saw the play Avenue Q (official site). I had heard there were puppets, kind of like Sesame Street’s muppets, but that did not prepare me for what I saw. Not at all. First, let me say I liked the play quite a bit. Now, here is the description from Time magazine, back in 2003:

 What if the denizens of Sesame Street grew up into profane, broke, self-doubting college grads who kept some of their innocence but developed potty mouths?

Well, that sort of describes it. The set is a lot like Sesame Street, with people and puppets popping in and out and interacting about life and such. But here the characters are wildly stereotypical and not at all politcally correct.

To get an idea,

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Bumbershoot Music And Arts Festival

March 5, 2009
ArtBumbershootComedyMoviesMusicMy LifeSeattleTravel
2 Comments

– Update: The new Bumbershoot web site for 2009 is online as of March 6. Check it out. The first group of performers will be announced later this month, so they say, with more to follow…
– Second update: I can die happy now. Bumbershoot itself commented on this post [see below] and on their site! [click here]
It’s about six months until the 2009 Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival in Seattle. We go there every year, since 2001. And we already have a room reserved for this year, which will be our ninth Bumbershoot.

One of life’s coolest and most wonderful things, Bumbershoot is three full days of 15-20 stages, outdoor and indoor, full of music, comedy, art, dance, literature, theater, film, vendors, street perfomers, visual arts, exhibits, activities, food, and tons of other arts-related stuff. Some of you already know how much I love this festival. Some of you might have even gone with us! Or might go this year? The festival is over Labor Day weekend (this year September 5-7), when the festival has been held for some 38 or so years. I only wish I had known about it sooner.

You can find out more on their web site, although they haven’t put the 2009 site up yet. But you can sure check out the 2008 site to see how very cool this festival is. For instance, you can see what artists played the festival from 1980-2008. Seriously, check it out. There are also some pictures of our Seattle/Bumbershoot trips from 2007, 2005, and 2004 on the photos page. If you want to be on my Bumbershoot email list, for the occasional scoop about the festival and who might be playing this year, just send me an email here or leave a comment below.

As always, open for commenting…

A Warmer Week In Indio

February 28, 2009
AlcoholArtFoodFriendsMy LifeTravelVegetarian
2 Comments

The date palmIt was gray, cold, and rainy in our town of Sacramento. So when we got offered a week’s stay in southern California, we were more than ready. Petra‘s parents had a timeshare they would let us use, and we took them up on it. We had heard about how nice and warm it is in the Indio-Palm Springs area, even in the winter, so it sounded pretty darned inviting. Since it was a two-bedroom place, we mentioned it to friends Larry and Robin and they met us there and spent five of the seven days with us. From what I am told it was rainy, cold, and gray in our home town while we were gone too. Good time for a short vacation, eh?

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

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Have You Read This Book?

February 5, 2009
BooksMy Life

The book is My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult and I recently finished it. It was a very enjoyable read. Thanks to my friend Robin who loaned it to me. A while back I read a different book by this same author, which I blogged about here. I liked that one so I was anxious to try another. And I liked this one too, how about that?! Once again the author tackles a deep subject and creates characters that are very interesting and really drew me in. I got to know the whole family and the side characters as well and could see both sides of the moral uncertainty that the author likes to write about.

Ms. Picoult likes to tackle ethical questions and make you wonder who is really right and wrong, but at the same time she tells a story and gives insight into each character, whether likable or not. I would certainly recommend this book. I have already bought another one by her and will get to it one of these days. You know how that goes, though!

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Latest 34 Music Items In The Collection

February 1, 2009
MusicMy Life

Check it out! Leave a comment if you have one…!!

ARTIST   TITLE   FORMAT
Harding, John Wesley – Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead CD with bonus live CD
Radiohead – In Rainbows CD
Taylor, James – Covers CD
Jack’s Mannequin – The Glass Passenger CD with bonus DVD
Pink – Funhouse CD
Sweet, Matthew – Sunshine Lies CD
Feist – Let it Die CD
Feist – Open Season CD
Prince – Indigo Nights – Live Sessions CD with book
Groundation – Each One Teach One CD
Groundation – We Free Again CD
Carey, Mariah – The Ballads CD (Not mine, Petra‘s!)
King, B.B. – One Kind Favor CD
Death Cab For Cutie – Something About Airplanes CD with bonus CD
Rundgren, Todd – Arena CD advance promo
Green, Al – The Definitive Greatest Hits CD advance promo
Jimmy Eat World – Static Prevails CD with bonus tracks
Jimmy Eat World – Clarity CD with bonus tracks
Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People CD
Case, Neko – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood CD
Rilo Kiley – More Adventurous CD
V/A – Goth Oddity – A Tribute To David Bowie CD
V/A – Ashes To Ashes – Tribute To David Bowie CD
Garbage – Queer – Part One CD single
Garbage – Queer – Part Two CD single
Carlos, Wendy – Clockwork Orange Complete Original Score CD
Specials, The – Guilty ‘Til Proved Innocent! CD
Carlin, George – Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics CD
Cause And Effect – Trip CD
Blur – Modern Life Is Rubbish CD Japan import
Live – Live At The Paradiso CD
Mraz, Jason – We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things CD plus bonus CD and DVD
Michaelson, Ingrid – Girls And Boys CD
Michaelson, Ingrid – Be OK CD

The 54 before that are here. The 100 before that are here. 

So what do you think? Leave me a comment!

Obama Bash and Bush Retirement Party

January 23, 2009
AlcoholFoodFriendsMy LifePigsPolitics
4 Comments

We had a double celebration last weekend. First, we have a wonderful new president, Barack Obama. Second, the previous president, George “Dubya” Bush (least popular since Nixon, btw) is finally leaving office! Either of those things would be reason for a party, but both? Be still my beating heart! Yes, yes, yes!

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?

A Day Of Service On MLK Day

January 19, 2009
My LifePoliticsWork

President-elect Obama has asked us all to step up to the plate and do something to make this world a better place. He asked us that today, on the Martin Luther King holiday, that we volunteer to do something useful for our community and country. With a mild and appreciated nudge from my wife Petra, we volunteered to work the morning at raft, a local non-profit group that provides very low cost materials for teachers. Check out their web site here.

We helped cut stickers for material packs for teachers. A menial task, sure, but helpful to teachers. And teachers are one of the most useful and underappreciated groups in our country. We can only be great if our people make intelligent choices. The smarter our young people become, the better our country will become.

Another way to serve: Treat your fellow human beings with respect and caring. Make sure that everyone has equal rights and equal opportunity. We can only be a good as the way we treat our weakest and poorest. When you raise their level, everyone above it becomes better too. We are a country for ALL the people. As the richest country on earth we can and should include everyone.

Happy New Year!

January 6, 2009
FamilyMusicMy Life

OK, so I am almost a week late. We move at a relaxed pace out here on the left coast. But here’s wishing you all the the greatest new year ever possible. As for the past year, well, it’s over and we can say that for it at least. Bygones. There were a lot of highs (too many to recap) and a few lows (losing my mom for instance).

So, the holidays are over for better or for worse, and now on into the new year full speed ahead. Or at a nice, smooth pace. Whatever works for you. And on that note, here’s a video (below) that I have always liked about “A Long December”, by Counting Crows:

 

 

Peace to all in the new year.

A Benjamin Button Birthday And More

December 30, 2008
MoviesMy Life
4 Comments

Brad Pitt. Cate Blanchett. Five Golden Globe nominations. So it must be good, right? Well, my birthday was a few days ago, and we went to see the movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Here’s the official site and here’s the Rotten Tomatoes page. I liked this movie. It wasn’t perfect but it moved along quickly considering the length, the story was engaging, and the performances were all good. Have you seen this movie? What did you think? I laughed and cried. Did you? Were you struck by lightning seven times?

Before the movie we had a great brunch at Todo Un Poco in nearby Laguna. It was soooo good. Of course Petra had the amazingly good Punjabi Pizza. I had some breakfast enchiladas. Then we both had leftover Punjabi the next day. How sweet is that?!?!!! If you have had it then you know what I am talking about.

After the movie we went to the Sacramento Kings basketball game. They stunk up the place, for sure, and lost by forty-five points. No, that is not a misprint. Enough said about that. P.U.

Ah, but after that it was dinner at 524 Mexican Food. Chili Rellenos. Enchiladas. Negra Modello. And of course Petra had her favorite Papas Tacos (potato tacos). Man, oh man, am I getting hungry! How about you?

Movie Time!

December 29, 2008
ComedyMoviesMy Life

The holiday season and movies. Don’t those two things go together? We rented four movies and bought six more. Don’t panic! The ones we bought were only five dollars each!

Here’s what we rented and watched:

The Dark Knight – Yeah, the Batman movie with Heath Ledger as The Joker. Has any recent film had this much hype? Well, it was a well-financed effort with lots of flash, action, and special effects, as I expected. It was non-stop action and Heath did a creepily great job as The Joker. I liked the movie for the escapist fun that it was. Petra was less enthused. 😉

The Women – A chick flick. In fact, there were no men even in this movie! It was ok, but nothing special.

Smart People – I thought Ellen Page, Dennis Quaid, and the other stars would make this a smart movie, but it wasn’t as good as I thought hoped it might be. So-so, but it had it’s moments.

Little Miss Sunshine – We both enjoyed this one. It was very quirky and entertaining and the performances and writing were good. Plus, it wasn’t like every other movie. This one was fun.

And the ones we bought, real cheap like:

Grace Is Gone

Cassandra’s Dream

The Great Debaters

Mad Money

The Pursuit Of Happyness

Dreamgirls

Do you have any thoughts about any of these? Any complete turkeys? Are they all great? Leave a comment…

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