City Painted Gold is a very fine album by a local band the Brothers Comatose. About three years I caught a fun set of theirs at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and enjoyed the previous record, Respect The Van as much as the new release. It's also a Kickstarter project so it's also nice to have Dexter and Oliver in the (tiny) credits. The record is relavant too as the title reference relates to what living in San Francisco has become; a place where new money is displacing its long time residents. Anyway here's to melodic songs, jabbing and darting fiddles, instrumental runs of banjos,mandolins, guitars, full and joyful vocals to balance out what once was, and precious moments that still exist. We landed alright but more fortunate than many I think.
Cabaret at the School Of The Arts. This was a very exciting production with wonderful production values. The sets were great as was the technical crew and the performers. Dexter was responsible for helping to set the overall lighting and during the live shows, his 3 person crew of rigging, where sets were raised, lowered and in one specific instance for each performance, suddenly dropped. A review is included here, but the photos from the review are only of rehearsals. Too bad for the costumes and the sets are not presented to anywhere close how the audience saw. The show also ends on a very down note and the performers were respectful of this- although the audience was always not sure how to react. I saw the show three times, ushered twice, Thanks to the Burckins, and Tina for coming out to support Dexter!
http://thefreakodiva.blogspot.com/2016/03/life-is-cabaret.html
This isn't mine but has been said of Winnipeg:
the only place to have the following seasons.
almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.
also called winterpeg.
Perhaps true but you'd have to ask the resident Peggers. It was cold and it did snow (unexpected, at least according to my forecasts) when I was there. I also neglected to recall what my rental car looked like so after exiting a grocery store walking in thick flakes of swirling snow I searched aimlessly trying to find whatever vehicle I had. Residents thought it was funny and so did I. Fortunately I had a funny looking box car so after a few frosty minutes, I was able to hop in and boost on those seat heaters.
I actually was one day done with a bunch of meds (a cocktail of 10 pills a day) that I was cycling through for a visit to the ER, and the results of numerous tests. The pills wiped me out and while I was concerned about after effects in another country (lined up what I needed to do just in case), I was able to do nothing if I wanted; to sit in my big warm place (a condo where many seniors live) and watch the snow fall. Coffee and food just blocks away. A car if needed to ride out to the Superstore, go see the Winnipeg Jets, or find my friends Will and Jen. Mostly I slept everywhere, anytime, enjoyed my walks and revisits to favorite places and cafes. People I met were friendly and curious and made fun of Donald Drumpf. Canadians like their southern neighbors but are also aware of the beast within us, the Ugly American. In falling sheets of snow, Winnipeg you were a warm blanket to me, providing comfort and care and showing me reasons to like the thought of being there.
Of course the customs experience of getting in to Canada turned out to be unexpectedly scary and crazy. One hour of questions where I thought I would be refused, going through my phone texts, emails ("who is Captain Mike? What is he a captain of? What does he want you to do here?") and because I was renting from a man named Michael ("why does he have a place for you here if he isn't here?" and because I was downplaying my excitement for my trip to Michael, I wrote (okay, idiotic choice of words) "Winnipeg looms" I was grilled for five minutes by three individual about looms, looming, to be loomed, my Fruit of the Looms. You wonder if you have any rights. On a not very diverse flight of passengers where maybe 5% of us could qualify as minorities, I thought it odd that 80% of us being questioned by customs agents were minorities, plus 2 young white guys with beards! Of course on my return, prepared, I was asked only one question "are you carrying anything you haven't declared?...go on through".
We've returned from a recent journey to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe with more cold weather but plenty of good warm memories. The Enriquez's invited us up to a place they rented for a week in Tahoe and while we could only go for one day, it was a lot of fun. Dexter and I took a canoe out on the water Sunday morning navigating through the channel of homes and boats opening up into the big Lake itself, and it was awesome, beautiful. We are thankful of having the support and friendship of so many good and kind friends, and it is a privilege watching their children grow up into the good humans they are.
Surrounded by the mountains and waterfalls in Yosemite to an almost dizzying effect is where you feel like you ought to spin in full circles to take it all in. Cameras fail to capture the majesty of everything; there's so much! but I try. Walking to quiet places and breathing, with nothing to do but live and exist in appreciation as one tiny fragment of the largeness. Peets Coffee has kind of forced its way into places like here, and that's not such a bad thing. It's good to be with MOD (Maria, Oliver, Dexter).
Maria has been wanting a dog, and I'm not resistant to the idea either. We saw one from the shelter where Oliver and I are contemplating volunteering at (for the cats) a couple of months ago and she's still there. Kind of pathetic in a sweet way. Oliver and I walked her and I think he likes her a lot. She apparently can live with cats just fine but I wonder if she likes riding in canoes.
The following entries will be full of photos. We're off to our first Giants-A's (preseason) game, the first one at ATandT Park, this year tonight via the Ferry. The Warriors are 68-7 currently. Think I'd like to get Oliver and Dexter, Samardzija and Cueto t-shirts, and then hope that our new pitchers pitch well this year. Oh, here's a link to the new Giants commercials. I especially like Mi Amor Dos, Rebrand Brandon, and Hunter's Pitch. Mi Amor Dos, and others
