You can and should read all about about the trip here to get the rest of the story, then be sure to check out the pictures (two 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 both pages too! Have fun and leave me a comment afterwards!!

Get stevenology by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

Friday March 19

It’s a long drive to Indio. With a stop for brunch and a couple pit stops, it took about ten hours of driving. Petra actually drove the whole way, though I did my part, helping out by taking a nap. We had a pretty good brunch in Kettleman City on the way and made it to our destination in Indio in time for dinner with Petra’s parents, who were staying about a mile or less away. We talked and visited a while then she and I made it back to our condo and called it a day. Which it was.

Saturday March 20

We went on this trip to relax and have some downtime. But we still wanted to see

and do a few things. Plus, you gotta eat or you’ll die!! So, well rested, we went out for brunch to a mexican restaurant that Petra’s co-worker had recommended. The vegetarian choices were slim but of course we found some things. Then, totally stuffed full and happy, we went to get some groceries to take back to the condo for the week. After that we walked over to the pool for some rest and relaxation. Later on, we drove over to the mexican market for a few more supplies. We also checked out a local flea market but there wasn’t much to see there. When we came back we went for a bike ride, right around sunset. The ride was nice and the sunset was very pretty. We came back and wanted to chill at the condo so we played a game of “Beatles Monopoly”. It was all fun and relaxing and all of this made for a nice day.

Sunday March 21

We had some leftover mexican food from yesterday’s brunch, so we turned it into today’s brunch. Twice the tasty treat! Today’s destination was the street fair at the College Of The Desert. We wandered around and shopped for a while, finding a few small items. Not enough, though, so we went to few nearby thrift stores. Tell me this is not a classic find: I found a record called “Music To Eat Pizza By” and it is performed by 23 accordian players! And they had it in mono OR stereo! For only a dollar each! I bought the stereo version along with a hard to find Groucho Marx record for a few bucks. Score!! Anyway, our friends Larry and Robin were due to come spend the rest of the week with us and right about this time they called , saying that were getting close. So we headed back to the condo and met them there. Of course we had to visit a bit. Then we headed out the a delicious dinner at nearby Ciro’s. The manicotti I had was really, really good. Stuffed again after we ate we went back to the mexican market. We got some fresh-made corn tortillas and a few other items. Larry was on a mission to find some mole sauce and they had lots of different kinds and brands. Then we headed back to the condo to visit the rest of the evening.

Monday March 22

We had a very leisurely morning and then went to hang around the pool. The water was warm and Petra loved swimming in it. In the later part of the afternoon, we all went to some nearby thrift stores to shop and explored a little, and of course by then we were all hungry. We went to a mexican restaurant nearby that we had visited last year, called La Pinata, where they have the big “Margarita Country” sign. We each had a big dinner and some margaritas. Life is good. Then back to the condo to hang out the rest of the evening.

Tuesday March 23

Today’s destination was the town and artists community of Idyllwild, nearly 6000 feet up in the nearby mountains. A friend of Larry and Robin’s had moved there and invited us all up for lunch and to visit. They fed us and then gave us a tour of and arts school there, along with some art galleries. On the way back, we stumbled across a large public art “farm”. Not sure if that is a good term but there were a few acres of public art to explore. So we did. As we got close to Palm Desert, we noticed the high-end Imago Gallery that we had visited last year. The awesome Chihuly glass piece was in the tower and we did a quick visit to see some expensive and cool art. Seriously, $140,000 for a painting? We didn’t buy anything  but it was nice to look at. Before we headed back down the one-eleven to Indio, we remembered a great vegetarian restaurant that we visited last year, Native Foods, so we went went there and had another good dinner. Everything in the place is vegan but you’d never know it. The menu has tons of stuff and everything we tried was good. On the way back we stipped at the grocery store and got some ice cream for desert. Yow! Are we having fun yet?

Wednesday March 24

Larry and Robin spent most of the day at nearby Joshua Tree State Park on a hike, while Petra and I opted for lounging around the pool. We also went to a store called The Alley and looked around a bit. All four of us went to Petra’s parent’s nearby rental house and they made us a really good dinner. We visited there the rest of the evening.

Thursday March 25

We had a light snack at the condo to get us started and then went to nearby Cathedral City. Our destination was the Imax theater. We saw the super-large screen, 3-d version of Tim Burton’s “Alice In Wonderland“. It was very impressive. The visuals were awesome and it was delightfully weird but sweet at the same time. Then we headed to Palm Springs for a few things planned later in the evening. But first was lunch at a different location of Native Foods. It was great too. Wish there was one in Sacramento! Then it was time to visit the Palm Springs Art Museum. Admission is free on Thursday afternoons so we took advantage of that. It’s a really nice gallery, check it out if you get down there. After that was the Villagefest, a big street festival with lots of booths and local merchants. After that, we were hungry again so we went to an Italian place near the condo called The Naked Noodle. It was good too. Then back to the condo to call it a day.

Friday March 26

It was time to leave Indio. We had a great week! Technically, we were spending tonight in Hollywood, on the way back home, so the vacation wasn’t over yet. We gassed up the car at Costco and said goodbye to Indio (adios, Indio) and drove to Los Angeles. We stopped on the way at a Shakey’s Pizza for lunch. Funny thing, that pizza chain started in our town of Sacramento but all the ones here have closed down. The hyperactive, yelling kids in the next booth put a damper on it but what the heck. We got to Hollywood in the afternoon and checked into out hotel. We had some free time so we took a wark down Sunset Boulevard, grabbed a coffee drink, and checked out the area. It got to be dinner time and we had already decided to visit a place we had been to once before on a visit, Toi “Rockin’ Thai” Food. The place is funky, open until 4AM, with rock posters decorating the walls everywhere. Then we headed to our actual destination, Club Largo, where we went to see Jon Brion. He’s a very talented musician, multi-instrumentalist, producer, etc. We’d seen him years ago at a Bumbershoot Festival and were really impressed. He uses electronics to record himself doing pieces of a song and then “looping’ them together to sound like a full rock/pop band. You have to see it to see how great he is at it. Oh, he can also just stand the with guitar and sing/play too. He did that on a couple originals and a great cover of the Kinks classic “Waterloo Sunset”. He did a noise-fest version of The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows” that was a nicely shaped wall of electro-pop. And then there was the marimba and loops version of The Cars “Just What I Needed”. Great stuff. There were also original songs from his solo CD and some of the soundtrack songs he’s done too. Great show, very impressive. There was an after-show announced in the nearby “Little Room” (about 60 people) and we got in line for that. We were way back in line but when I went up to ask the guy at the door, he suggested that we come back the next night. I said “we’ll be 500 miles away then”. He looked concerned and told us to stand “over there”. A little later he came over and let us in, he gave us the last two seats in the place. Sweet!! This show was totally different. Jon had a bunch of friends with him and he let them do a lot of the show, but still playing and singing with them. This was more folk and even bluegrass. Very different from the main show, but still entertaining and the musicians were really talented. How fortunate that we were able to see both shows!

Saturday March 27

It was the day to head home, but we weren’t quite finished yet. We had brunch at the nearby the Hollywood Mel’s Diner (it was OK), and then went to the world’s biggest independent record store, Amobea Music. They have an unbelievable selection of new and used CDs, records, memorabilia, and other music items. It’s a huge place, they even have maps of the store if you need them, but the staff is helpful too. It’s so big it would take a day (or more) to look at everything. But we did spend a few hours and did some dollar damage, finding some rare things, some very good bargains, and some other stuff too. I’ll list that stuff in a diffent post when I get some time. But after all that time in the record store, we were finally ready to hit the road and go back home. And that’s just what we did…

Get stevenology by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

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 had three days in three different ports. First was Cabo San Lucas, where we wandered around the city and checked out the sites. Sammy Hagar’s hyped “Cabo Wabo” was nothing that special. We stopped at another place for some chips and guacamole, which tasted pretty good. The margaritas were omnipresent and were all good. The restaurants were hawking 2 for 1 specials (what could we do?) and buckets of beer (we didn’t have any of those).

Lots of souvenir shops, but after all we were in the tourist area. Second day in port was Mazatlan, where we went on an excursion to a town a half hour or so away. We saw a little of the town, watched some local artisans, went to a tortilla factory, and then the main attraction, a tequila factory. We saw the blue agave and it’s “pineapples” and learned how the tequila was made. Of course, we had to sample some! And buy some! Then back to town for a mexican lunch which was muy bueno. Third day in port was Puerto Vallarto. The eight of us took a taxi and wandered around town, shopping and sightseeing. We had a great lunch in town and then the wildest taxi ride ever back to the ship. Roller coasters got nothing on this.

The rest of the days were on the boat, which was huge. How huge, well, longer than the empire state building is tall. With an ice rink, basketball court, multiple theaters, pools, lounges, restaurants, mini-golf, I can’t even begin to describe the size of this thing and what all is on it. Check it out here. Almost all the food was included so we ate a LOT and we ate OFTEN. I’m serious. I gained 5 1/2 pounds in a week. And had a great time doing it. The alcohol was not included but we didn’t let that stop us. ;-p 

What else did we do on the boat? Well, for example:

Visited the lounges

Saw live shows in the theater

Watched karaoke

Played in trivia contests

Shopped

Took a spanish classs

Watched a great ice skating show

Played a finish-the-lyric game

Ice skated (Petra anyway)

Gambled in the casino

Watched a 70s celebration

Played name that tune

Watched comedians

Looked at the art

Watch “The Quest” game

Relaxed

Wathed an aerial act

More comedy, trivia, etc etc etc

Room service everyday (included)

And much more

And best of all, we hung out with the six friends that we went with: Larry and Robin, Jared (J-Dogg) and Ashleigh, and Jeremy (Flippy, Beastmaster), and April.

Petra posted some pictures on Facebook here, and I’ll get some posted on my blog when I get a chance. I’ll keep you posted.

Leave me a comment below. See you on the next boat!

Get stevenology by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

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!!

Get stevenology by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

Leave me a comment below. I’m waiting and waiting and waiting!

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.

Get stevenology by email! Click here.

Follow me on Twitter.

Leave me a comment with the comment link below. Don’t make me beg!

View the massive schedule of all the Bumbershoot performers.

If you want to make a suggestion for me, put it in the comments below. Now, now, keep it nice.

To view the Bumbershoot web site, go here.

This year, Petra and I will be up in Seattle for a week, friends Larry and Robin (their web site) will be there most of the time, and Mama O and her posse will be there from 3-5 days or so. Big fun for everyone. Recently, I wrote more about who to see at this year’s event in my earlier posts Bumbershoot – You’re Telling Me and Who Should I See At Bumbershoot.

Yah-hoo! I am SO READY!!!!!

Subscribe to stevenology – get the news first!

Follow me on Twitter – get the news second

Why not leave a comment with the comment link below?

From Mike M

Franz Ferdinand & Modest Mouse are no brainers.  And don’t miss Yeah Yeah Yeahs ‘cuz she puts on a great live show.  Also DJ Spooky is definitely worth checking out.  Have fun!

From Chris P

Looks like fun. If I were going, the ones I’d be most eager to see are:

- Old 97s

- World Party

- Sheryl Crow

- Soulsavers w/Mark Lanegan

- Todd Snider

From Kevin C

Katy Perry, Sheryl Crow, Maximo Park, Todd Snider, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, writers of LOST, Franz Ferdinand

From Robert K

World Party might be worth checking out.  Franz Ferdinand is real good too.  Sly & Robbie is good dub reggae.

From Jared P

Sick Puppies are good… they are from Australia. Super nice guys and girl. Played with them at the Boardwalk like 3 years ago. Forgive Durden is VERY good. He is from Washington. Thats all that I saw that wasn’t obvious. (Jason Mraz, Black Eyed Peas, etc)

Thanks to all of you for the suggestions! I won’t see all those people but I might see some. I really appreciate it. Anyone else have some artist suggestions for me? Leave me a comment below!!

My original post is here, along with the list I was thinking about seeing before I got all this great input!

Get stevenology by email

Follow me on Twitter

http://sched.bumbershoot.org/

Any thoughts? Leave me a comment, click on the comment link below!

Bumbershoot Festival main web site 

Thanks…

Check out the pictures, then leave me a comment and let me know what you thought!

Get stevenology by email! Be the first to know!! Click here