Elliott's Bayings

Happy New Year and goodbye

2009-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

I've been updating this blog for a year now, and I've decided to take a break. I found that I was struggling to find a voice, and in an effort to update on at least a weekly basis, this blog turned mostly into a weekly oldies music show. That's not what I intended when I started; I wanted this to be more of a commentary on issues and things going on here. I wrote ten or twelve things on politics, but they mostly ended up as angry rants and since I'm not an angry person by nature, I didn't post them.

I've also decided that blogging requires a certain amount of arrogance - one has to think that what they're saying is of sufficient importance to broadcast it to the (virtual) world. And I'm not sure I have anything all that important to say, to be honest.

I've read a bunch of other blogs, and they all seem to be more witty, erudite, profound, newsworthy, educational, or artistic. I find most of 'em to be much more interesting (i.e., better) that mine, and I've concluded that continuing this blog the way it's been going is a waste of my time - and yours.

So I'm going to put down the pen (or the keyboard), stop talking for a while, and just listen. Hopefully I'll find that voice I've been looking for.

Anyhow, I hope those of you who've read this blog have found some enjoyment in it. Drop me a line (click on the comment link) and let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas for where this blog should go next, even if you think "where it should go" is away.

Thanks for reading. Peace.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T01:00:00.000-08:00

This piece of music has always given me goosebumps. Merry Christmas!

My favorite Christmas Carols

2009-12-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

This time of year, I always think about all the thousands of Christmas carols around, and which ones I like best. This year, these are my favorites:

"Carol of the Bells". This is the George Winston version.

"Some Children See Him." I recall hearing this for the first time at a George Winston concert.

"Stop the Cavalry" peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart in December 1980. The song was never intended as a Christmas hit, but the line 'Wish I was at home for Christmas' as well as the brass band arrangements made it an appropriately styled song to play around Christmas time. This version is by The Cory Band (a Welsh mine brass band) with The Gwalia Singers.

Happy Christmas (War is Over). I get tears in my eyes every time I hear this.

Saturday matinee - Stan Freberg's "Green Christmas"

2009-12-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

The video is weird, but the audio is (as is typical for Freberg) hilarious and very pointed!

Satuday Matinee - The Muppets sing "Bohemian Rhapsody"

2009-12-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

I loved The Muppet Show. I miss those characters!

Happy Birthday, Zach

2009-12-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

I miss you.

Write or call me, please.

Sand art

2009-12-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

If you don't believe that art can move people to tears, watch this:

Kseniya Simonova - Sand Animation (Україна має талант / Ukraine's Got Talent) from Norm on Vimeo.

Huskies crush Cougs 30-0

2009-11-28T20:15:00.001-08:00

Woo Hoo!!!!

Saturday matinee - Bobby McFerrin at the World Science Festival

2009-11-28T06:00:00.001-08:00

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

Bobby McFerrin, Yo Yo Ma, and Mark O'Connor:

Yo Yo Ma Y Bobby McFerrin - Hush Little Baby - Watch more funny videos here

Saturday matinee - "All Along the Watchtower"

2009-11-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

This may be the most covered song ever.

Bob Dylan (who wrote it):

Jimi Hendrix (who made the most famous version):

U2:

Dave Matthews:

Dave Mason:

All Along the Watchtower-Dave Mason

Dave Mason | MySpace Music Videos

Brian Ferry:

Michael Hedges:

Bruce Springsteen:

Neil Young:

Grateful Dead:

Pearl Jam:

Eric Clapton & Lennie Kravitz:

Richie Havens:

Black Friday

2009-11-27T08:23:00.000-08:00

Saturday matinee - Yes

2009-11-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

I never appreciated "Yes" at the time. I bought one album, didn't like it, gave it away, and then didn't think about this band again for years. And then one day, I was driving somewhere and "All Good People" came on the radio. I pulled into my destination but couldn't turn the radio off. I was transfixed by the complex melody.

So if you gave "Yes" a pass at the time, now's the time to reconsider. They're great!

"All Good People"

"Roundabout"

"And You and I"

"Long Distance Runaround"

Beautiful time-lapse photography

2009-11-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Check this out! It's extraordinarily beautiful.

Timescapes Timelapse: Learning to Fly from Tom @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

If you get a chance, checkout this guy's website: http://www.timescapes.org/

Tribal wisdom

2009-11-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

DEAD HORSE - Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

However...in government, we often try other strategies with dead horses, including the following:
1. Buying a stronger whip
2. Changing Riders.
3. Saying things like, "This is the way we've always ridden the horse."
4. Appointing a team to study the horse.
5. Arranging a visit to other sites to see how they ride dead horses.
6. Increasing the standards to ride dead horses.
7. Appointing a team to revive the dead horse.
8. Creating a training session to increase our riding ability.
9. Compare the state of dead horses on today's environment.
10. Change the requirements declaring that "this horse is not dead."
11. Hire contractors to ride the dead horse.
12. Harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed.
13. Declaring that "No horse is too dead to beat."
14. Providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance.
15. Do a Cost Analysis Study to see if contractors can ride it cheaper.
16. Purchase a product to make dead horses run faster.
17. Declare the horse is "better, faster and cheaper" dead.
18. Form a quality circle to find uses for dead horses.
19. Revisit the performance requirements for horses.
20. Say, "This horse was produced with cost as an independent variable."
21. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.

Saturday matinee - Aaron Copland's "Fanfare For The Common Man"

2009-11-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

Turn the column up to eleven. This'll give you chills!

Is the GOP dying?

2009-11-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

I grew up in a politically-split household here in Washington. My father was a Barry Goldwater Republican, and my mom was a Democrat. When I was growing up, the most influential politician was our governor, Dan Evans. Evans was a moderate Republican who thought that in order to keep the federal government small, he should make the Washington state government as efficient and effective as possible. So he did. Because of Evans, my early political leanings were towards the Republicans. In 1968 I voted in my first election, and despite a lot of misgivings (later justified), I voted for another fairly moderate Republican, Richard Nixon.

All of which is a fairly long-winded way of saying that I've always held a soft spot for the GOP. In fact, I still vote for Republicans.

So it pains me a bit to see what's going on within today's party. Beginning in the late 60's and early 70's, the party started taking a turn to the right. As an ever-increasing number of very conservative Christians joined it, it began (slowly at first, and then with increasing speed) to turn further and further to the right, and to become something other than proponents of small government and fiscally conservative. Today, I doubt very much of Dan Evans (or Richard Nixon, for that matter) would be welcomed in the GOP.

Today, as I see it, there are three camps of Republicans, none of whom trust the others:

The old-style small-government fiscal conservatives. The "Barry Goldwater Republicans" who would have counted my father among their members. This group includes "classical conservative" thinkers like William Buckley and George Will.
The "neo-conservatives" who believe in big government, big spending, and are aggressively interventionist in their foreign policy. This group includes George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and a bunch of talk-show hosts.
The Christians who are very socially conservative and want the federal government to enforce their policies. This group includes Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and others.

Notice that moderates aren't included in that list. That's because moderates have been almost completely driven out of the GOP in an ideological purge lasting more than thirty years.

In 1972 and again in 1980, the Democrats suffered overwhelming losses. After those losses, the Dems did some soul-searching. As a result, the Democrats began a slow move towards the political center, which culminated in the election of the flawed but brilliant centrist, Bill Clinton in 1992.

In 2006 and 2008, the Republicans suffered similar overwhelming losses, and have done some soul-searching. But their response seems to be moving even further to the right. In the 2008 presidential election, John McCain turned down an opportunity to seize the political middle ground by nominating Joe Lieberman, and instead chose the unqualified, completely inexperienced Sarah Palin. This year the chairman of the party was forced to apologize to a radio talk-show host. In New York this month, a moderate Republican candidate ended up endorsing the Democratic candidate after conservatives endorsed a third-party candidate.

Want an example of what might happen if the GOP's ideological purge continues? Look no further than my home, Kitsap County, Washington. In the 2006 primary election, Republicans voted out an incumbent county commissioner because she - oh, the horrors! - compromised on a land-use issue. The result? Their ideologically more pure replacement candidate got his hat handed to him by a twenty-something who was running in his first political campaign.

The Republican party seems to be suffering from internecine warfare, and may be falling apart before our eyes, going the way of the Whigs and becoming politically irrelevant.

And they have nobody to blame but themselves.

Happy Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

Saturday Matinee - Richie Havens

2009-11-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Richie Havens will be remembered as the one who opened the Woodstock festival. He was chosen for a good reason - he's a great performer who can get a crowd up and on their feet. I saw him in Seattle in the mid 1970's and I'll always remember what a great singer and what a great storyteller he was.

Here are some videos, starting with his famous "Freedom/Motherless Child" from Woodstock.

Tupelo Honey/Just Like a Woman:

All Along the Watchtower:

And a more recent video:

How to open a bottle of wine with your shoe

2009-11-06T07:01:00.001-08:00

Election results looking promising

2009-11-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

Our election results are looking promising.

The voters firmly rejected (by double digits) Tim Me-Myself-and-I man's latest attempt to destroy state and local government. Of course, Eyman is crying all the way to the bank. He "earns" his money by skimming a percentage of the donations to his initiatives, so we shouldn't expect him to disappear from the scene because his livelihood depends on him introducing initiatives on a regular basis. He's a professional politician, just as much as those in Olympia that he derides.

Me-Myself-and-I man and his supports constantly complain that his initiatives are the only way to "control spending", but they ignore two key facts:

Washington ranks just 35th out of the 50 states in total state and local tax burden, according to the non-partisan Tax Foundation.
We already have an effective way of controlling spending. Perhaps you've heard of it. It's called an "election". If you don't like the way your representative is voting on spending (or any other issue), then don't vote for them. If enough of your fellow citizens vote the same way, your representative will lose.

The other issue is a bit closer, but it looks like the voters have approved R-71, stymieing the latest attempt to legalize discrimination. While it unfortunately appears that legalizing gay marriage isn't in the cards for right now, this measure codified "everything but marriage", basically giving unmarried gay couples (and heterosexual couples over the age of 62) the same legal rights as married heterosexual couples. So in terms of gay rights, we've progressed from slavery to separate but equal. I hope legalized gay marriage isn't too far off.

Making exercise fun

2009-11-01T07:04:00.000-08:00

Who knew?

Saturday matinee - "Thriller" Halloween special

2009-10-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

This is 1,500 plus inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines performing their own choreographed dance routine to the late Michael Jackon's great song "Thriller".

Top Gear- The best program on television

2009-10-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

My wife as a big anglophile. If it's British, it's pretty much guaranteed that she'll love it. It was her love of all things British that was a major factor in our last two big trips (Scotland in 2007, and England & Wales in September this year).

As a result of Carrie's anglophilia, we started watching BBC America on cable a couple of years ago, and I fell in love with one of their shows. It's called "Top Gear", and it's the funniest thing I've seen on TV since the early days of Saturday Night Live.

The show is hosted by three guys who individually are interesting, and who together are hysterical. I highly encourage you to watch it if you can.

Each show features a series of car tests, interviews, features, and challenges, where the three hosts all buy or build vehicles and have to face some challenges. Below is a video of one of my favorite challenges. In this one, the three had to convert a minivan into a convertible. The video shows the third and final challenge - taking their completed conversion through an automated car wash.

What the video doesn't show is the three sodden hosts watching the car wash burn, when one of them turns to the others and says, "You realize that we just burned down something made entirely of water".

You gotta see this show! It's on Monday evenings on BBC America.

Saturday matinee - is music for the birds?

2009-10-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Next time someone tells you that music is for the birds, gently correct them and say, "No, music is by the birds."

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

Costume for Halloween?

2009-10-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

How about this costume idea for Halloween, 2009?

Saturday matinee - Mysterious Mountain

2009-10-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Alan Hovhaness was a northwest composer of classical music, who wrote one of my favorite pieces: The Mysterious Mountain.

Here's a video, with the music as the background to a cable car ride in the Alps.

A plea for feedback

2009-10-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

I was just looking at my web counter and realized that this blog has had almost 12,000 hits since I started it ten months ago. Wow! Since I never get feedback, I have no idea if what I'm posting interests you folks at all. It's sort of like standing at Speaker's Corner at Hyde Park in London while wearing a blindfold - I have no idea if people are listening, or merely passing by.

I'd like to find out what you think. Please send me feedback. Underneath this post (and in fact under all the posts) is a piece of text that says (as of right now) "0 Comments". If you click on it, you can leave a comment. I promise to read 'em all.

I'd really appreciate hearing back from you!

You can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish

2009-10-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

My wife and I were having lunch Monday at The Spar in Olympia, and she was reading a Tacoma weekly newspaper. She pointed out an advertisement at the top of one page for a piano tuner.

I asked what his name was. She asked why. I said, "well if his name was "Oppornockity" he'd never have any repeat business."

When she asked why, I said, "because Oppornockity tunes but once".

Sometimes I crack myself up!

Washington 36 - Arizona 33

2009-10-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

WOOO - HOOO !!!!!

Rush Limbaugh - siding with the terrorists

2009-10-10T13:14:00.001-07:00

A startling admission from Rush Limbaugh on his radio show yesterday:

"Folks, do you realize something has happened here that we all agree with the Taliban and Iran about and that is he doesn't deserve the award. Now that's hilarious, that I'm on the same side of something with the Taliban, and that we all are on the same side as the Taliban."

Q. What's the difference between Rush Limbaugh and a terrorist?
A. 150 lbs, a Viagra prescription in someone else's name, and a cigar.

Saturday matinee - Traffic

2009-10-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I posted something about Dave Mason, one of the founders of the great English band, Traffic. So this time I thought I'd post something about the band itself.

Traffic was founded by

Steve Winwood, who at age 15 (15!) had been a key member of the Spencer Davis Group and had written "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm A Man" (which was a big hit later for the group Chicago)
Jim Capaldi (drummer)
Chris Wood (woodwinds)
Dave Mason (guitars)

This band broke up and reformed more than the blobs in a lava lamp. Mason left and re-joined three times.

But in their various mutations and iterations, they produced two outstanding albums: "John Barleycorn Must Die" in 1970, and "The Low Spark of High-heeled Boys" in 1971.

For a band steeped in psychedelia, "John Barleycorn", with it's heavy folk influence, was a real departure - similar to the Grateful Dead's turn from psychedelic to country and folk with "American Beauty".

"John Barleycorn" featured four really memorable songs: the great instrumental "Glad", "Freedom Rider", "Empty Pages", and the title song (an old folk song about the harvesting of barley). Here's a video of a live version of John Barleycorn:

"The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" turned back more to the psychedelic and jazz-rock roots. It featured the extended jam song "Rock and Roll Stew", and my personal favorite Traffic song - "The Low Spark of High-heeled Boys". Here's a video of a live version:

And here's a bonus track - "40,000 Headmen" (from their second album "Traffic"):

Huskies fall to 2-3

2009-10-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

The Washington Huskies are now two and three. And that's good news!

Last year, with coach Tyrone Willingham, they didn't win a game. That's right: 0-12. And in several games, they seemed to just give up the minute they were behind.

This year under new coach Steve Sarkesian, they've only been out of one game. They played one top ten team (LSU) pretty close, and beat another one (USC). Last Saturday, they lost to Notre Dame in South Bend on a couple of blown calls by the home field officials. So things are looking up. Saturday, they take on Arizona at home. I'm actually hopeful that they'll win!

GO HUSKIES!

I love this cartoon

2009-10-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

I found this Saturday morning. What a great response to those folks who say that the proposed public option in health care is bad!

If you don't see the whole thing, click on it.

Saturday matinee - "Little Wing" by The Corrs

2009-10-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

"Litle Wing" is one of my favorite Jimi Hendrix songs. The Corrs are a (semi-)traditional Celtic band from Ireland. Here's their gorgeous version of the beautiful "Little Wing". It's so moving - I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

If the young woman singing looks familiar, it might be because she was the lead actress in the charming movie, "The Boys (and Girl) From County Clare". Her name is Andrea Corr.

George W. Bush - Communist?

2009-10-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

Recently, conservatives here in the Pacific NW and elsewhere have been making a big deal out of a song about President Obama sung by some school kids.

Pam Dzama, the resident wrong-wing columnist in my local paper said, "Americans shouldn't idolize or deify their presidents". I wonder if she also advocates ending the President's Day holiday? I wonder if she thinks our state should change its name? I bet not.

One reader of her column compared the event to "the Hitler Youth Camps".

Another reader claimed that "a few radical teachers [are trying] to push their politics on kids."

One reader went way over the top, saying, "B.Hussein is literally worshipped by the blind sheople" and calling the song "O-Worship, indoctrination, brain-washing, mind-numbing SEDUCTION." Wow, what overblown hyperbole. I can just see the spittle flying from his lips as he wrote that.

RNC chairman Michael Steele actually had the nerve to stand up and say, "this is the type of propaganda you would see in Stalin's Russia or Kim Jong Il's North Korea. I never thought the day would come when I'd see it here in America."

I wonder how many of these folks complained about the school kids who sang hosannas to then-president Bush at the White House Easter Egg roll in 2006, praising him for the federal response to Hurricane Katrina?

Notice what also happened at that event. Before the song was sung, the first lady read the assembled children a book ("Will You Be My Friend: A Bunny and Bird Story" by Nancy Tafuri). When she was done reading, the President asked the kids "Did you like this book? Does it tell you about what people can do to help other people, what bird did to help bunny? Be kind to him and give him shelter."

"Give him shelter." There you have it, plain as day: President Bush advocating redistribution of wealth.

Clearly, George W. Bush is a Communist.

Trip details: Bath & vicinity

2009-10-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

(This is the fourth and final post about our trip)

Thursday, September 10: We had an early breakfast at the Hen-dy, David backed our car out for us, and we checked out and drove to Llandudno Junction (pronounced Smith) to return the rental car. I told them about my run-in with the wall and they looked at it and then said "don't worry about it". Considering I spent almost $300 for three days, I think they knew they'd already made a profit off of me.

From the car rental place, we walked to the train station and retrieved our tickets for Bath (with changes at Shrewsbury and Newport). Once again, our seats were facing backwards.

We got to Bath (pronounced "bath") and took a cab to our B&B, Chestnuts House. We were warmly greeted by Toni, the owner. He showed us a map of bath, told us all about restaurants and attractions in the vicinity. I mentioned that I'd like to see a Rugby match, so he pulled strings (he's a season ticket holder) and got us two tickets for the Saturday match! He called and got us tickets for an all-day bus tour to Stonehenge and vicinity on Sunday. And he also recommended a nice local pub frequented by rugby fans, the Pultney Arms. Our room was so luxurious! It was on the ground floor, with french doors out to the patio. Everything was so nice!

We walked around Bath for an hour or so, and had dinner in a pub called "The Lamb and Lion" (OK - nothing special), then went up to the Pultney Arms, had a pint (Black Sheep bitter - very good!). After that, it was back to the B&B and an early night.

Friday, September 11: We started with an AMAZING breakfast at the B&B (smoked salmon & scrambled eggs for Carrie and an asparagus and tomato omelet for me) and then walked to the city center to see the sights.

First up: Bath Abbey. Gothic style abbey with soaring walls and large stained glass window. We were also struck by the very large number of memorial plaques memorializing a whole bunch of people who were buried under the abbey. Carrie lit a candle for the 9/11 victims.

Next: The roman bath ruins. Built in the 1st century AD. This was MUCH larger and more extensive than I had been led to believe. We explored for at least three hours. And then we topped it off by having lunch in The Pump Room, a fantastic Georgian room! And I FINALLY got to have Welsh Rarebit, even though we'd left Wales! Our waitress was kinda stand-offish until the bill came and I pointed out that she'd forgotten to charge us for Carrie's lunch. Then she was nice.

After that, we walked up to The Circus, a whole traffic circle enclosed by a series of spectacular Georgian town homes. It was like I was walking through some of my Architecture books from college! from the Circus, we went to the Costume Museum (kinda disappointing considering the glowing reviews we'd heard), and then on to the Jane Austen museum, which lived down to the mediocre reviews we'd heard.

For dinner, we walked to the Pultney Arms and had dinner. We were back in bed and asleep by eight.

Saturday, September 12: Another outstanding breakfast, followed by a stroll around Bath. Then we headed off to the Rugby match. We had great seats - only about 5 rows from the field! And - surprise - the SELL BEER! I'd expected no beer because I knew they don't sell it at soccer venues in the UK. It was a beautiful day; warm and sunny, and we had a great time. Bath lost a close match, but we enjoyed it.

Dinner after the match at Rajpoot. Very, very good, but not quite as good as Hason Raja in London (so good that my mouth is actually watering as I write this).

September 13: up early to get ready for our bus tour. Our landlord Toni had arranged for them to pick us up at the hotel. At 8:30 an unmarked small bus pulled up out front, and we went out and introduced ourselves to Charles, our tour guide and driver.

We picked up the rest of the group (14 in all including us) - mostly Americans, but also two gals from Poland, and a very quiet lady from Japan. Our first stop was Stonehenge.

Stonehenge - how many times have Carrie & I heard that name and wondered what it would be like! We got there after about an hour; we were among the first to arrive that day. It was somewhat cloudy, cool, and quite breezy. We got off the bus, filed through a short tunnel under a roadway, walked up the other side and there it was.

I know this sounds trite, but words can't begin to describe it. My very first impression (after "Holy sh*t! I can't believe we're here!") was that it was a little smaller than I'd imagined it would be. but after thinking about it for a second, I realized that the people who built this 5,000 years ago didn't even have wheeled vehicles or any real way to haul the massive rocks, some of which came from Wales, several hundred miles away.

Carrie & I walked around it. There's a fence to keep people away, which is both bad and good. It's bad because you can't go up and actually touch the rocks, but it's good for exactly the same reason. Because people are kept away from it, none of my pictures had little kids (or big kids) crawling all over.

After about an hour or so, it was time to move on to another henge (our guide told us that a "henge" is a circular mound with a ditch inside it, and stones inside the ditch) called Avebury. Avebury was quite something. It's both older and bigger than Stonehenge. The henge itself is about a mile around - it's so big that there's a village in the middle of it! The only significant differences are that the stones aren't carved into rectangular shapes, and that not stones are placed on top of each other.

From Avebury, we went to Lacock, a historic village in the Cotswolds. On the way, we stopped to see one of the Wiltshire horses. The Salisbury plain, where Stonehenge, Avebury, and the Wiltshire horses are, is mostly comprised of a thin amount of topsoil over several feet of chalk. So if you scrape away the topsoil, you see the white chalk underneath. That's how the Wiltshire horses were made - someone scraped away the topsoil in the shape of a large horse, which appears to be white against the green vegetation surrounding it.

Lacock has buildings dating back to the 14th century. It's quite picturesque, and was used as a set in several films, including being used as "Hogsmeade", the village next to Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies. Charles told us the story of one of the residents who was paid very handsomely by a film company to use his house for a film backdrop. They even paid him an extra amount for the inconvenience of having to park somewhere away from his house. The resident thought this was great, as he hadn't owned a vehicle for several years!

We had lunch at the Red Lion pub in Lacock. It dates back to the 14th century! Amazing. After lunch we walked around town for a while, and then hopped back on the bus for our last stop of the afternoon, Castle Combe (pronounced "castle coomb"), an 18th century village that's been voted England's prettiest one. We could see why! It was gorgeous! The village is really small (one street, about 40-50 buildings). We looked around and took some photos, and then headed back to Bath.

After returning, we decided to walk around and find a place to eat. Carrie saw a sign at a fairly nondescript looking pub (Gascoyne Place) that said "live jazz", so we decided to eat there. What a find! Aside from Hason Raja in London (my mouth is watering again as I think about it), this was the best meal we had on our trip. I had slices of lamb in a port reduction sauce, and Carrie had pollock. The food was amazing! The jazz was good as well. All in all it was a fitting end to our last full day.

The next day, we had several hours to kill before taking the train to London. So we walked around for a while. We ended up at Pultney Bridge, in front of an antique shop that we'd passed every day. And every day we passed it, Carrie stopped and ooohed and ahhhed at a small bronze sculpture of a rabbit. So, this being the last day, I decided to buy it. In spite of Carrie's saying "no no! It's too expensive" I walked into the shop and asked the clerk for the price. She opened the case, took out the rabbit, turned it over, and said in a cockney accent, "one-ninety-nine". I did a quick calculation, came up with about $275, decided we could afford it and that it would look nice on our mantle, and told her I'd take it. She took it (and us) next door to their main shop. As she and the clerk in the other shop were discussing how to ship it to us, the second clerk turned to me and asked how I wanted to pay the "nine-ninety-nine", and I realized that I had misunderstood the original clerk. So we apologized profusely, and backed out of the shop. But not before Carrie got to pet the bunny good-bye.

That afternoon, we took the train from Bath to London, and then took the Heathrow Express to the airport and then on to our hotel for one last night in England. The next day, I woke up at 4AM to get us packed and ready to go home while Carrie slept. We took the shuttle to the airport, and caught our first flight of the day. We got home at 1AM, and got to bed at 2AM. So we were up for 30 hours.

We were both exhausted, but we'd had a great trip.

I've posted a bunch more pictures on Flickr.

Trip details: Llandudno & Northern Wales

2009-09-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

(This is the third of four posts about our recent trip to Massachusetts, London, Bath, and Northern Wales)

We left our hotel early on the morning of Sunday, September 6 and walked a few blocks past a deserted Russell Square to Euston Station to catch our train to Llandudno, in northern Wales. I'd already bought the tickets online a month or so earlier, so we retrieved the tickets from a vending machine and boarded our 2nd class coach to Crewe. As luck would have it, our train seats faced backwards, which made shooting pictures and videos a bit of a challenge.

We changed trains in Crewe, and headed west along the seashore into Wales. You can only tell you're in Wales because the signs are in Welsh first, and then in English, which makes reading them from the train - or a moving car - a bit of a challenge. More on that later.

We arrived in Llandudno at about noon or so, and walked 3/4 mile or so to our hotel. The weather was kinda cloudy, breezy, and several degrees cooler than London. Llandudno (pronounced clan-DUDE-no) is a Victorian seaside resort on the north coast of Wales, situated on a long sand/shingle beach with large hills ("the Great Orme" and "the Little Orme") at either end. I was told that "Orme" is an old Norse word meaning snake. The buildings on the waterfront (almost all of them resort hotels catering to elderly English guests) are all from 1850-1870.

We found our hotel (the Hen-dy, right on the waterfront) without any problem, and were warmly greeted by Louise, who runs it along with her husband David. Louise showed us to our room, a HUGE second-floor (they call it the first floor) room with a spectacular view of the bay and some of the town. I was worried at first that it might be very noisy, but that didn't turn out to be the case. Here's a picture of the view from our room:

We unpacked (unpacking was one of Carrie's trip requirements) and spent the rest of the afternoon walking around town. Our guidebook for Wales recommended a pub called "The King's Head", so we went there for a pint. When we walked in, something made me feel like home. I don't know what it was, but there was something special about the place. One nice thing - when I went to the bar to order drinks, the bartender told me not to drink what I'd ordered and recommended a different pint (Abbott Ale), which turned out to be very good. We saw a sign saying there was live traditional music that evening and liked what we saw on the dinner menu, and decided to return there for dinner.

When we returned, I ordered drinks (Abbot Ale and wine for Carrie) at the bar and dinner at the food bar, and we sat and watched all the people. It soon became apparent that almost all of them were locals (at least the ones that we could see and hear). our food came (good, but not great). When I went back to the bar, I fell into conversation with a couple of local guys, who came over and sat with us. We had a really great talk, listened to some good traditional music, and headed back to the hotel, tired, slightly drunk, and VERY happy.

One of my objectives on every trip abroad is to find a local pub and get to talk with local folks. This evening exceeded my expectations. For me it was, looking back from several weeks, probably the best evening of the entire trip.

The next day we took a cab to the Avis car rental place in nearby Llandudno Junction. I got a 4-door Pugeot 308. A nice car, with wipers that went on automatically when it started to rain, headlights that went on automatically when it got dark or we went into a tunnel, outside mirrors that retracted automatically when you turned off the engine, but a transmission that had to be shifted manually.

Our goal for the day was Harlech Castle, about 40 miles away, and Portmerion, a small village nearby.

Carrie got the map out, and we headed out. Once I overcame my tendency to shift from 1st to 4th, the car proved to be just fine, with one exception: although it would be considered a compact (or maybe mid-sized) car here in the US, in Wales it was freakin' HUGE. Or at least it seemed so. Maybe that was because the roads in Wales are tiny, even when compared to Scotland.

Three things about the differences between driving in Scotland (where we'd gone two years ago) and driving in Wales:

1. The road signs in Wales are in Welsh first and then in English. Ever try to train yourself to read the bottom of the sign first when approaching one at 40-50MPH? We missed several turns because of that.

2. In addition to being hard to read, the signs don't give you much warning in Wales. Instead of giving you 1/4 mile, the signs often happen right AT the intersection. So if you don't have REALLY fast reflexes, you're going to miss the turn. Which we did. Several times.

3. The roads in Wales vary greatly in width. You can be on a nice two-lane road which goes around a bend and suddenly becomes a one lane road. Without warning. We had several near-misses with oncoming vehicles. I was scared sh*tless several times, and actually hit something with the passenger mirror once.

So there were challenges driving. After a few missed turns and some shortened tempers, Carrie and I found our way to Harlech (pronounced HAR-leck), a village on the west coast of Wales, and the site of Harlech Castle, a 13th century fortress built by Edward the 1st to subdue the Welsh. We paid, went in, and wandered around for an hour or so. The castle sits on a bluff overlooking a long stretch of sandy beach. There are great views in three directions.

After lunching in the village (picturesque, but not much else to see), we drove (with a few more misadventures) to Portmerion (pronounced port-MARY-on). Portmerion is a small village that was owned by a Welsh architect, who made it over into an Italian village. It looks for all the world like the pictures I've seem of towns in the Cinquterra in Italy. Everywhere there were picturesque views and tableau's. Portmerion also has the distinction of being where that great British TV series, "The Prisoner" was filmed in the 1960s. What a fantastic place! There was something to marvel at everywhere you turned.

From Portmerion, we drove (with a few more missed turns and other misadventures) back to Llandudno. We ate dinner at a local restaurant called "Home Cookin'" - not memorable. I had a local beer from Great Orme brewing - pretty bad. Then we went back to the hotel, sat in their little residents' pub, and talked to the owners and some of the other guests. When we asked about the history of Llandudno, David and Louise loaned us some books to read. What a nice, hospitable couple!

The next day (Tuesday the 8th) brought breezier cloudier weather. After breakfast in the hotel (very good) and arranging to have dinner there as well, we decided to ride a narrow-gauge railway, so we headed to Bleaneau-Ffestiniog (pronounced BLY-nee Tfest-INI-og). Along the way, it started to rain (which is when I learned about the automatic wipers). We arrived in Bleaneau-Ffestiniog and rode the (absolutely packed) train down through some very scenic valleys and dales to Portmaddog (pronounced port-MAD-uck), on the coast, about two or three miles from Portmerion. By now, the rain was blowing sideways. We wandered through town, looking for a microbrewery I'd found online (the Purple Moose). We found it after a couple of false turns, bought some souvenirs, found out that the owner had just gotten back from a microbrew tour of the Pacific NW and that their beers were sold on the railway we'd ridden on, and headed back to the station. We lunched (a HUGE portion of mac 'n cheese) and then got on the train for the return trip. I bought one of the Purple Moose beers (Snowdonia Ale - VERY good!). We drove back to the hotel, where we discovered that it had only been raining there for about 45 minutes. Ate dinner in the hotel dining room (good home cooking), visited in the residents' pub (tried a Welsh single malt - it was very smooth and tasted slightly of almonds), and were in bed by ten.

Our last day in Wales dawned clear. David reversed our car out of the (very, very tight) parking area in the back of the hotel (I'd had a slight run-in with a wall when backing out the previous day), and we were off to see two castles.

Our first stop was Caernarfon (pronounced ca-NARV-on). It was also built by Edward the 1st in the late 13th century, but is MUCH bigger than Harlech. Unlike most other castles, its towers aren't round, they're hexagonal. Also, it's walls have stripes of contrasting stones in them.

We explored the castle for a few hours, and then had lunch in the town (Carrie was in heaven because the couple net to us had a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that she got to pet and coo over) and drove back towards Llandudno to Conwy (pronounced CON-way). Conwy Castle was ALSO built by Edward the 1st in the late 13th century (a busy guy!). We explored the castle for a while (we both love castles!).

We then walked through the town to Plas Mowr (pronounced PLAS-MOU-er), a complete 16th century Elizabethan town house. The floorboards were original! There were two fireplaces that still had the original plasterwork with the year 1571 on it!

After dinner at the hotel, we went back up the The King's Head pub for dinner, hoping that the same local folks might be there, but we were out of luck. We saw the 1st half of the England-Croatia soccer match, and then went back to the hotel for a drink in the pub, and packing.

Next: Bath, Stonehenge, and how I almost went bankrupt

Trip details: London

2009-09-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

(This is the second of a series of posts about our trip to Massachusetts, London, Bath, and Wales).

We flew out of Boston at 9AM on an American Airlines flight to London. The flight was completely full, and we had the "honor" of having seats in the middle section of the very last row on the plane. We couldn't even see a window, let alone see outside. Not that there was very much to see except clouds and waves. The flight was VERY bumpy - we flew over the remains of the hurricane that had caused all the rain in Boston the day we landed there.

We arrived in London at about 9PM (thanks to a 5-hour time difference). It was raining there as well. It only took us about 20 minutes to clear customs, a huge improvement over our last time (when it took two and a half HOURS). I'd done my research and discovered that there's a Piccadilly Line Tube stop at Heathrow that would take us to Holborn station (4 blocks from our hotel) without having to change trains. So we added ten pounds to each of our Oyster cards, hopped on the train, and 45 minutes later checked into our hotel, the Park Inn Russell Square. We took sleeping pills and slepth through the entire night.

What a nice place! It's an older building (maybe the late 1800's?), but our room although small was recently refurbished. Everything was new. And best of all, the bathroom had very simple controls! The ONLY drawback was that the temperature in our room was stuck at about 75-80 degrees, and the corridor outside it was about 80 or so. Opening the room's window alleviated that problem.

The next morning (Friday, Sept 3), we went down to the hotel restaurant and had a nice buffet breakfast (included in the $165 room charge), and then headed out to see London. The rain had stopped, but it was breezy and cool. We walked to Charing Cross Road and headed south, looking for the site of one of our favorite books, "84 Charing Cross Road", the wonderful story of the long-distance relationship between an American writer and the staff of a second-hand bookstore at the aforementioned address in London. Sadly, the bookstore is long-gone, and been replaced by a wine bar. But there's a nice plaque in the wall, and we took pictures of it.

Then it was time to just wander around. We headed to Trafalgar Square, and found something unexpected in one corner - a statue of George Washington! We had lunch at a ubiquitous London restaurant "Pred a Manger" a chain of sandwich and coffee shops all over London. Then we walked to a rubber stamp store Carrie had discovered when doing research for the trip. Carrie went in & shopped, and I looked around the neighborhood, and had a short fantasy about opening a "carriecards" store on the street and living above it. Nice fantasy! Then it was on to Oxford Street for Carrie to do some shopping and then back to the hotel. Dinner at a nearby pub.

The next day (Sept 4) dawned sunny and warm. So we decided to go to one of Carrie's objectives for our stay: Hampton Court Palace. We hopped a double-decker bus to Waterloo Station (Waterloo freakin' Station!), and bought train tickets for Hampton Court. A 40-minute train ride later, we walked across a bridge over the Thames to Hampton Court. It's a palace built in the early 16th century by Cardinal Wolsely, a close confident of Henry the 8th. When the two had a falling out several years later, Wolsely gave it to Henry as a present. What a place! It's HUGE. We had a great time wandering around and watching the re-enactors portray Henry, members of his court, and Katherine Parr, who would become his sixth and final wife. In addition to the Tudor part of the castle, there's also a much later expansion, built by William of Orange (of William and Mary fame) in a completely different style. After lunching at the palace, we decided to head back to London via different conveyance: a "3-hour tour" down the Thames. It was great - we saw all kinds of interesting stuff: canal boats, locks, fancy English palaces like Ham House, ordinary English houses on the riverside (another short daydream about living on the Thames). We got back to London and got off right under the shadow of Big Ben. Took the Tube back to our hotel. That evening we went to an Indian/Bangladeshi restaurant very near the hotel called Hason Raja. What an AMAZING meal! We both thought we'd died and gone to heaven.

Sept 5 (Saturday), was reserved for the Portobello Road market, another of Carrie's objectives for the trip. We took the tube to Notting Hill Gate (near where "Notting Hill" was filmed). The market consists of a large number of booths and small stalls one one or both sides of Portobello Road for about a mile and a half. We both really enjoyed the market - they sold such things as fruit and "veg", second-hand stuff, collectibles, antiques (Carrie bought an antique printers stamp and some cigarette trading cards, and I bought an antique print), silver, cooked food, tacky tourist stuff, clothes,flowers, and all kinds of things. The crowd was a complete ethnic mix from all over the world. I'm sure there were other Americans there, but I don't remember one American voice. That night we had dinner at a forgettable Italian restaurant. I'd bought a Cuban cigar the day before, so that night after dinner, I smoked it while I walked up to Euston Station (where our train would leave the next day).

Next post: Llandudno and Northern Wales.

Trip details: Massachusetts and New England

2009-09-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

This is the first in a series of posts about our recent trip to New England, England, and Wales.

We spent the night before we left in the Doubletree Hotel at Sea-Tac, so we could get a couple of hours extra sleep. We left the house Friday at about 5:30PM (when a jacket I'd ordered for the trip arrived), and got to the hotel at about the same time as a busload of elderly tourists just off a cruise to Alaska pulled in. After standing in line for a while, we got checked in (they handed out warm chocolate-chip cookies to those of us in the lobby!), found out that the first shuttle to the airport in the morning was at 5AM, and successfully navigated ourselves to our room (the hotel is HUGE and has several different buildings).

The room was nice, but somewhere I've stayed in one that was IDENTICAL to this. I've never stayed in this hotel before, and I don't recall staying in a Doubletree before either. It was weird. We ate dinner in the hotel & found out our server had gone to church about a mile from where we live.

The next morning, we got up at about 4:15 and got on the shuttle, which left a few minutes after 5. It was when we pulled up to the airport and got in line to check ourselves in for our flight (to Denver) that I realized that our flight left at 5:50, not 6:15, and that we had only about 35 minutes to make it. I broke into a huge sweat.

The check-in kiosk said that we were too late. More sweat. The lady behind the kiosk told us that our luggage wouldn't make it. Fortunately, we had carry-ons, so we hurried to security. Of course, since we were in a hurry, both Carrie's bag (with a too-large bottle of something) and mine (spare camera batteries and a voltage converter for the UK) were selected for extra scrutiny. More sweat.

We got to the gate just as they were starting to close the doors. Whew!

Uneventful flight to Denver. Uneventful layover in Denver (bought breakfast there, since there was no breakfast on the flight), and an uneventful flight to Boston. We grabbed our bags, got off the plane, and walked to baggage claim, from where Carrie was going to call her sister Michelle. I took the opportunity to use the men's room. When I came back, Michelle and Joe (her husband) were there. It turns out that they had been sitting about 25 feet from where Carrie called, and she actually heard their phone ringing!

It was raining so we thanked Joe & Michelle for arranging weather to make us feel at home.

They got us out of the airport, out of Boston, and to their home in Georgetown, MA. Nice place - on a pond just outside of a charming, picturesque New England village. We stayed in their 5th wheel trailer. Very nice, but short.

The next day, Michelle took Carrie to a baby shower for Michelle's daughter-in-law. I wasn't particularly looking forward to that. Fortunately, neither was Joe, so we went to a gigantic outdoors place called the Kittery Trading Post, in Kittery Maine. On the way, I got to see the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and I can now say that I've been in three more states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine). We ate lunch at a roadside seafood place - I had a lobster roll for the first time. Tasty!

The next day (I lost track of what day it was, but I think this was Monday the 31st of August), Michelle accompanied Carrie & me into Boston for a look around. She drove us to a nearby town and we took the commuter train into Boston. I really didn't know what I wanted to see (aside from the Green Monster, which wasn't possible, and Old North Church), so when we saw a kiosk selling tickets to a hop-on, hop-off Boston bus tour, we took that. Except for Fenway Park, we got to see all the big sights: Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, Boston Garden, the scene of the Boston Massacre, the scene of the Boston tea-party (now a children's museum with a huge inflatable "Arthur the Aardvark" marking the spot!), and we also got to go on a 45-minute harbor tour (from which we saw Bunker Hill, Old North Church, and Old Ironsides, which isn't open for tours on Mondays). The day was kinda cool and cloudy so Carrie & Michelle bought long-sleeve souvenir t-shirts.

We had lunch at the Union Oyster House, the oldest continually-operating restaurant in the US (since 1820). Pretty good food. Sam Adams Octoberfest on tap.

Monday was our last day with Joe & Michelle. They drove us around their part of Massachusetts. First we went to an antique store in Georgetown (a great place, with some very nice hand-made furniture, and where I spent much time drooling over three matching leaded-glass windows and Carrie bought a lace tablecloth for her carriecards booth). Then it was on to Ipswich and another antique store, this one overpriced and understocked. After that, we went up the coast to Gloucester (pronounced "Glahstuh"), home of Gorton's seafood and a locally famous statue. Our final destination was Rockport. No, not Rockport, Maine; Rockport, Massachusetts, a charming little former fishing village on the coast. We wandered around Rockport for a couple of hours, and then headed back to Joe & Michelle's to pack for the rest of the trip.

We had a great time with Joe & Michelle. I'd been told that Joe is quite the raconteur, and everyone was right. What a great guy! He knows absolutely everyone in Georgetown.

Next post: London

Saturday matinee - Dave Mason

2009-09-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

I was a big fan of the band "Traffic" in the late 60's and early 70's. Who wouldn't be? Steve Winwood was a genius, and the band had this really psychedelic jazzy folky feel. One of the early members of the band was Dave Mason (who wrote "Feelin'Alright" for them), who released what I always thought was one of the best solo albums around - "Alone Together".

"Alone Together" showcased Mason's great songwriting and amazing guitar work. It had some memorable songs: "Only You Know and I Know", "World in Changes", and the song that contained one of the best guitar solos ever recorded, "Look At You, Look At me".

Here's a recent video of that song (with edits, and a different version of the solo):

Here's his version of that great Bob Dylan song (made famous by Jimi Hendrix), "All Along the Watchtower. Listen to that great guitar-playing!

Pictures from our trip

2009-09-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

We're back from out trip. We had a fantastic time! I've posted about a dozen pictures from our trip on Flickr. Click here to see them.

Saturday matinee - Les McCann & Eddie Harris: Compared to What

2009-09-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

One of the GREAT jazz numbers. Less & Eddie were paired at the Montreaux Jazz Festival even though they barely knew each other. But the result was pure magic. In addition to this song, they came up with Cold Duck Time and several others.

Here are two videos: one is just still photos and the cut from the album. The second is a newer version. Both are amazing. That beat just won't quit!

On hiatus while we're traveling

2009-08-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

We're traveling to New England, Olde Englande, and Wales. This blog is on hiatus until we get back. I've posted this before, but here's our itinerary.

August 29th: Fly from Seattle (leaving at 5:30AM - I'm not looking forward to that!) to Denver to Boston to visit Carrie's sister Michelle and her husband Joe. I've never met Joe, but everyone tells me that he's a hoot. I'm looking forward to meeting him! We're spending the night before we leave in a hotel near Sea-Tac.

August 30: Visiting Joe and Michelle. There's a slim possibility that Carrie & I will be going to Rhode Island to see a very old house that was owned by my ancestors.

August 31: Visiting Joe & Michelle. The Boston Red Sox are out of town this day, so we might be able to tour historic Fenway Park - I've always wanted to see (and touch) the Green Monster.

September 1: Visiting Joe & Michelle. We'll need to hit the sack early, because we have a 9AM flight the next morning. Joe & Michelle have told us that they'll take us to the airport, even though it's a long drive (each way!) for them. Bless 'em for that.

September 2: Fly from Boston to London. Leave Boston at 9AM. Due to a 5-hour time difference, arrive at Heathrow airport at 8:45PM. We're staying at the Park Inn Russell Square, recommended to us by some good friends. It's near the British Museum, and just a few blocks from two different tube stops.

September 3: The plan is to take it a little easy this day, to recover from jet lag. Carrie found a rubber stamp store a few block from our hotel, so we might go there. There are several walking tours in the area, and I think we may do one of those this evening, if we're up to it. We also want to see the location of the great book "84 Charing Cross Road". If you have any good suggestions for recovering from jet lag, let me know.

September 4: Hampton Court Palace. Carrie is setting the agenda for our stay in London, and this is high up on her list. Since Hampton Court is quite a way west of London, I think we'll take a train to get there, and take a three hour river tour to get back. A three-hour tour?

September 5: The Portobello Road Saturday market. This sounds really cool. Antiques, flea market. A massive shopping opportunity for Carrie! Saturday evening, we'd like to go see a play (Carrie is leaning towards a comedic version of Hitchock's "The 39 Steps". Sounds good to me!

September 6: Take the 8:15 AM train from London (Euston Station, about 10 blocks from our hotel) to Llandudno, in northern Wales. Llandudno (pronounced "Smith") is a Victorian seaside resort town on the north coast of Wales. It's a good base for exploring the area. We should arrive about noon, and spend the rest of the afternoon checking into our hotel and exploring the town.

September 7: Pick up a rental car (already reserved) at Llandudno Junction (a suburb of Llandudno, if there is such a thing), and head south to Portmerion, a small Italianate village where that great 60's TV show "The Prisoner" was filmed, and Harlech Castle.

September 8: More castles: This time Caernarfon and Conwy. We love castles!

September 9: Do laundry. Find a small pub, sit there and talk to the locals. We'll also try to ride a narrow-gauge railway.

September 10: Check out of the hotel, turn in the rental car, and take the train from Llandudno to Bath, in England. Carrie loves Jane Austen, so this is a natural. Arrive in Bath mid-afternoon. Check into the B&B and then go look at the famous Roman baths and the abbey.

September 11: All day bus tour to Stonehenge, Avebury, Lacock village (which was the Hogwarts village Hogsmeade in the Harry Potter movies), and Castle Combe village in the Cotswolds. Should be a good way to see a number of sites. The tour company ("Mad Max Tours") has been highly recommended to us.

September 12: Touring Bath. Start off with the Roman ruins and the abbey. There are also some great Georgian buildings, and a Jane Austen museum to see, as well as a highly-recommended costume museum.

September 13: Take the train to Salisbury to see the cathedral.

September 14: A day of rest and packing, followed by an evening train to London. We'll spend the night at the Sheraton Skyline, near Heathrow.

September 15: We fly from Heathrow to Boston, from Boston to Chicago, and from Chicago to Seattle. Then from the airport to home, after more than 20 hours traveling.

September 16: A day off to recuperate. We'll need it!

Saturday matinee - Robbie Robertson

2009-08-28T08:00:00.001-07:00

I know this post is a day early, but what the heck. Check back tomorrow and you'll see why.

Last week, I posted about The Band. This week, I'm posting about Robbie Robertson.

Robertson was lead guitarist for The Band, and exerted increasing artistic control over The Band's musical direction. When The Band broke up, Robertson went solo.

I bought his self-titled solo album when it came out, without having heard it. I bought it solely because I had been so impressed with The Band's final studio album, "Northern Lights - Southern Cross".

Boy was I impressed! "Robbie Robertson" was a real gem. The production values were amazing (not surprising - Robertson had already produced several albums for other artists), and the songs were great. Tracks included a heartfelt tribute to former Band-mate Richard Manual who committed suicide, a cautionary tale of gang violence ("Sonny Got Caught In The Moonlight"), a story that intermingled tales of James Dean, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe ("American Roulette"), and my personal favorite, "Somewhere Down That Crazy River". I can't embed it, so here's a link to the video of that.

I thought his self-titled album would be a tough act to follow, but he topped it with his next release - "Storyville", an album with tons of guest appearances (Neil Young, some of the Neville Brothers, former Band-mates Rick Danko and Garth Hudson, Bruce Hornsby, Ginger Baker, and a whole bunch of New Orleans musicians). There are no videos for this album, unfortunately.

"Storyville" was an incredible tour de force, and I listened to it a lot. Robertson (who is part Mohawk) followed it up with a soundtrack to a limited TV series called "The Native Americans". Robertson produced and sang and played on some tracks. Here's a video of "Ghost Dance":

Saturday matinee - The Band

2009-08-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

I became a fan of The Band late in their career, at the point when they were about to break up. I'd heard 'em over the years on the radio and knew they'd become famous as Bob Dylan's backup band, but they just seemed too laid back for my taste. But one night I was watching television and saw them do a version of "Georgia on My Mind", and it just blew me away. So when their next album "Northern Lights - Southern Cross" came out, I bought it.

It was a wonderful album. Songs ranged from the funky "Ophelia" to "It Makes No Difference", and the incredible ode to the French Canadians, "Acadian Driftwood", which went on to become an earworm of mine - a song that haunts me to this day.

Shortly after the release of "Northern Lights - Southern Cross", The Band announced that they were breaking up. To commemorate the occasion, they released a movie called "The Last Waltz"; a documentary of their last concert. "The Last Waltz" was memorable for two things: (1) It was directed by Martin Scorsese, and (2) in post-production, several of the musicians decided to overdub their solos. So although the soundtrack was advertised as live, it really wasn't. The reaction to this news was interesting. Several other bands released concert albums shortly afterward, and titled them "Absolutely Live", "Guaranteed Live" and things like that.

There aren't many videos of The Band, but here are three:

I Shall Be Released:

The Weight:

Although this video doesn't shown the group, here's a video of Acadian Driftwood:

Saturday matinee - Sarah Palin

2009-08-15T06:00:00.001-07:00

The leader of Alaska's "I-quit-arod" sings!

Thanks, Steve.

Saturday matinee - Jackson Browne

2009-08-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've been a fan of Jackson Browne ever since his first single ("Doctor My Eyes") came out. A classic LA singer-songwriter, Browne became more overtly political in more recent years. But he was always capable of turning out well-crafted, intensely personal, emotionally powerful images as well.

Here's a video of that first single:

Here's a video of The Pretender, written shortly after his first wife committed suicide:

And here's a video of one of his political songs, "Lives in the Balance":

Browne is still recording and still touring, and still drawing thousands of fans. His concert this month at Chateau Ste Michelle is sold out.

Season ends for Pumas

2009-08-01T13:38:00.001-07:00

The PDL has had issues with officials all season long - mostly falling for flops by players. My wife nicknamed a player on one opposing side "twitch" because every time he flopped, his legs would twitch so much it looked like he was on death's doorstep. But ever time he did it, he got a call from an official.

Well, it looks like the floppers had their way with the officials in western Texas yesterday. This time it cost the Kitsap Pumas a potential shot at the title.

A flop in stoppage time by a newly-hired flopper on the Ventura County Floppers was erroneously called a penalty by the official (who was apparently operating without his seeing eye dog and/or white cane). The Ventura Floppers scored on the resulting free kick to defeat the Kitsap Pumas 2-1. The defeat eliminated the Pumas from playoffs.

Wait'll next year! ALLEZ PUMAS!

Saturday matinee - Chris Rea

2009-08-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

English singer-songwriter Chris Rea first came to my attention in 1978 or 1979 with the hit single "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" from his debut album "Whatever Happened To Benny Santini". "Fool" peaked at #12 on the US charts, and was nominated for a Grammy for song of the year (it lost to the schmaltzy Billy Joel "Just The Way You Are").

And then as far as I knew, Rea fell of the edge of the earth. He continued to record and tour in Europe and the UK throughout the 1980's but I wasn't aware of him again until the late 1980's, when I happened to hear that familiar raspy voice on the radio, singing "On the Beach". Here's a video of a live version of "On the Beach":

Shortly after that, he released two really good albums in a row, "The Road to Hell" in 1989 and "Auberge" in 1991. Here's a video of the title cut from "The Road To Hell":

And then, he disappeared again. Well, I just found out that his disappearance was because he was deathly ill. But he recovered, and has since gone back to his blues roots. Here's a version of "Legacy Blues":

Soccer Saturday

2009-07-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a great day! I got to spend it with some great friends, and attend two great soccer matches!

Part 1: Sounders v Chicago Fire

Our friends Charles & Linda came over to our house in the morning, and we all took the ferry to Seattle to see the Seattle Sounders play the East Division leading Chicago Fire at noon at Qwest Field. Although I'd gone to see the Sounders-Chelsea exhibition last week with my brother, this was my first regular-season match, and it was the first Sounders match at all for Carrie, or Charles and Linda. Charles is a bigger (and much more knowledgeable) soccer fan than the rest of us, so he was in heaven. But we all really enjoyed the match and the atmosphere.

It was absolutely electric inside. The crowd (30,000) was really into the match. It looked like the videos I've seen of playoff soccer in Europe. Although the Sounders were clearly the more aggressive team, and had many more chances, the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

Below are a photo of Charles & Linda, and one of some of the banners in the stadium.

Part 2: Kitsap Pumas playoff match
When the Sounders match was over, Charles and Linda and Carrie & I walked up 1st Avenue to the Pike Place Market. It was hot (about 90) so we didn't spend a lot of time there. We couldn't really, because we had a schedule to keep. We had to be on the 5:30 ferry to Bremerton so the four of us could meet our friends Mike & Debbie and all go to the Kitsap Pumas playoff match.

The Pumas were playing the Seattle Wolves in round one of the Premier Development League playoffs. Although smaller and somewhat quieter, this was a great crowd for the Pumas - over 2,300 people. And they made some real noise - especially when the Pumas scored their two goals en route to a 2-0 victory. The Pumas dominated throughout, and are now in the Elite Eight of the PDL. They play in a mini-tournament (in Texas) next weekend.

Below is a photo of (left to right) Debbie, Carrie, Linda, Charles, and Mike. This was taken before the stands filled in.

Below is a video of the Pumas (courtesy of David Falk of the Seattle Soccer Examiner) two goals and an interview with their goalie, Dustyn Brin.

ALLEZ PUMAS!

Saturday matinee - "Stand By Me"

2009-07-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted a video of a group of musicians from around the world contributing to the great Bob Marley song "One Love". Thanks to my brother, I found out that the "group" is called Playing for Change, dedicated to the idea that music can bring people around the world together better than just about anything else.

Here's a terrificvideo of their version of "Stand By Me":

Clever sign

2009-07-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

This ...

2009-07-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

...is what 65,000 soccer fans watching an exhibition soccer match looks like. I took my brother to see the Seattle Sounders take on Chelsea Saturday. What an amazing experience! Steve and I are both soccer fans from way back, and this fit the bill perfectly. Chelsea is a world-class organization and had several national team captains on their side. They were obviously better than the Sounders.

I thought the Sounders looked like the more dangerous side for the first ten minutes or so, and then Chelsea scored a beautiful goal twelve minutes in. The Sounders chased for the rest of the match, eventually losing 2-0. The had several chances, but just couldn't finish.

But the energy in that stadium was electrifying. I can't recall ever feeling anything like it, even in 30 years of Husky football. Come to think of it, the only time I ever experienced that kind of electricity was in the 1995 Mariners-Yankees ALDS series.

There's something fishy about this video

2009-07-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

Holy crap! Check this out - you have to see it. It's a video taken at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan.

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

If you have a good computer monitor, click on the "four arrows" icon (to the left of the word Vimeo") and watch it in full screen mode. It's hypnotizing!

Saturday Matinee - Bruce Cockburn

2009-07-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn has been around a long time. I bought his "In the Falling Dark" way back in 1976, but he's been around longer than that. Not only is he a great singer-songwriter, he's an amazing guitarist. He's become increasingly political over the years as well.

Here's a live version of one of my favorite songs of his - "If I Had A Rocket Launcher":

Here's a segment about his guitar-playing:

A lot of people have accused him of always being too serious. But that just isn't so. Here's his version of "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life":

Division champions, baby!

2009-07-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

Despite having a man sent off for no apparent reason in the 30th minute, the Kitsap Pumas continued to work hard and it paid off. They scored in the second half and defeated a team from Abbotsford, BC last night, 1-0. The Pumas are still undefeated (11-0-3) and clinched the division title last night.

You have to hand it to the referee last night. He was able to run up and down the field at a high rate of speed without using his white cane or his seeing-eye dog.

The Pumas have two matches left, during which they could easily clinch the best record in the entire PDL, and then it's on to the playoffs! What a fantastic inaugural season!

Allez Pumas!

Saturday matinee - Stefano Barone

2009-07-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

Amazing what you can do with a Martin guitar, a pre-amp with an echo effect, and a boatload of talent!

Palintology

2009-07-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin announced that she's resigning as governor of Alaska. Doesn't that automatically make her a leading competitor in the I-quit-a-rod?

Saturday matinee - Oscar Peterson

2009-07-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than with a Canadian piano player? I've been a fan of the late Oscar Peterson for as long as I can remember. He was a piano player of extraordinary skills as well as great musicality.

Here are just two examples:

Saturday matinee - WAR

2009-06-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

There were only a few bands that I really wanted to see back in my youth, that I didn't get to see. WAR was one of them. I first heard of them when they recorded with Eric Burdon (from The Animals) and had a small hit with "Spill the Wine"> I thought they were a great blend of jazz, blues, latin, and funk.

They were one of my favorite bands from the 70's, with such hits as "All Day Music", "Slipping Into Darkness", "The World Is A Ghetto", "Gypsy Man", "Low Rider", "Me and Baby Brother", and others. Sadly, two of the founding members (sax player Charles Miller and percussionist Pappa Dee Allen) have passed away, and the band broke into two factions. One faction (led by keyboard player Lonnie Jordan) kept the name War and still records and tours occasionally. The other faction (the other four surviving original core group members: Howard E. Scott, B.B. Dickerson, the amazing harmonica player Lee Oskar, and Harold Brown) formed a separate band called The Lowrider Band.

But for a few brief years, they brought a lot of great music to a whole lot of people.

Here's a video of the original lineup performing "The Cisco Kid" live:

And here's a version of the new lineup doing "All Day Music" on BET. What a great song for a summer afternoon.

Another GOP scandal

2009-06-24T17:20:00.001-07:00

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, just back from a secret trip to Argentina unknown to his staff or his wife, admitted today he has carried on an extramarital affair.

The big news is that unlike many of his fellow Republican cheaters, he had an affair with a woman.

Still undefeated, baby!

2009-06-24T07:38:00.001-07:00

The Kitsap Pumas defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps under-23 team 4-0 this weekend. I guess a 4-0 win is more like a spanking than a win.

Here's video of two of the goals:

The Pumas are still undefeated in league play, with a record of 6-0-2. They have 20 points and are in first place in their division of the Premier Development League, with a game in hand over the two teams tied for second. In their eight league games so far, they've only allowed five (that's right, five!) goals.

Allez Kitsap Pumas!

Photo credit: Kitsap Sun

Saturday matinee - The Samples

2009-06-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite 90's bands was The Samples. Here are two songs from the album I first heard:

Oceans of War

Feel Us Shaking

But can he catch?

2009-06-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

I just stumbled across this video showing a former Seattle Mariner draft choice with a pretty unique skill: he can flip his bat while swinging at the ball. Check out this video!

Saturday matinee - Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

2009-06-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

As a fan of the Grateful Dead, I liked these guys a lot. Their 1988 debut album ("Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars") was a critical and commercial success, and contained their one hit, "What I Am".

The band, of course, broke up. Edie Brickell has been Mrs. Paul Simon since 1992.

An update, a correction, and some speculation

2009-06-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

The update:
Two weeks ago I commented on former Mariner Randy Johnson's appearance in Seattle as a starting pitcher for the Giants. Since then, Randy won his 300th game, virtually assuring his selection in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Way to go, Big Unit!

The correction:
In the post, I said that I hoped "he [Johnson] chooses to go in wearing a Mariner uniform". I was wrong. I've since learned that the final decision is up to the Hall of Fame staff, not the player.

Interesting (to me, anyway) speculation:
There's a likelihood that both Johnson and the amazing Ken Griffey, Junior will both retire after this season. That would mean that they'd both be eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame in 2015. Wouldn't it be great to see them both be inducted into the Hall at the same time? They were rookies together in 1989, and I think it would be fitting for them to be Hall of Fame rookies together as well.

But wait, there's more. As Seattle Times baseball writer Larry Stone put it:

... envision a scenario in which Edgar Martinez, who is on the ballot for the first time after this season, slowly gains in the voting totals (unfortunately, Martinez is not likely to be a first-ballot choice), until he finally scrapes through with the necessary 75 percent on his fifth try.
That could put Johnson, Griffey, Martinez and [Omar] Vizquel all going into the Hall of Fame together in July of 2015. Wow.

(A further aside: As Jim Caple of ESPN.com recently pointed out, has there ever been a better quartet of rookies on one team in baseball history than the 1989 Mariners had in Big Unit (acquired from Montreal in a May 25 trade), Junior, Edgar and Little 0? I can't imagine who it would be).

Imagine that. Four rookies from the same team in the same year, all going into the Hall of Fame together. Maybe Lou Pinella could make it too! As Dave Niehaus would say, "My, oh my!"

Kitsap Pumas - undefeated, baby!

2009-06-07T06:33:00.000-07:00

The Kitsap Pumas defeated the Portland Timbers U23 team last night, 1-0. The Pumas are now 5 - 0 - 2, and in first place in the Premier Development League with 17 points. Portland is in second, with 16 points.

Tuesday evening, the Pumas take on the main Portland Timbers team in US Cup play.

Allez Kitsap Pumas!

Saturday matinee - Trouble in the Jones family?

2009-06-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

I think the Jones' marriage may be in trouble. Mr. Jones is hanging around with Counting Crows:

Meanwhile, Mrs. Jones is having a "thing" with Billy Paul:

These things aren't all that uncommon. As family member Tom Jones would say, "It's Not Unusual".

National champions, baby!

2009-06-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

The UW softball team just defeated the University of Florida Gators 3-2, to win the national championship series 2-0. The Huskies' bark was worse than the Gators' bite. Woo Hoo!!!

Saturday matinee - Tal Wilkenfeld

2009-05-30T06:00:00.001-07:00

This young bass player is amazing! Her name is Tal Wilkenfeld, and she's just 22.

The guitar player in this first video is no slouch himself. He's Jeff Beck, who first came to fame as Eric Clapton's replacement in the British band The Yardbirds:

Here's a video of her appearing in her native Australia,leading her own band:

Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

Let's not forget the reason for the day.

Two class acts in one event

2009-05-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

Randy Johnson pitches for the San Francisco Giants now, but he earned his reputation as a great pitcher when he was up here with the Seattle Mariners in the 1990's. Last night was the first night in inter-league play (National League vs American League), and the NL Giants were in town to play the Mariners. And Randy Johnson was on the mound for the Giants.

Randy left Seattle under a bit of a cloud. He was having contract issues with the team and they traded him in the middle of the 1998 season. His stats up to that point that season were mediocre, but for the rest of the season he was lights out in Houston, so some accused him of tanking the first half.

In the ten years since the trade, he pitched for Houston, Arizona, the New York Hankies (and George Whinebrenner), Arizona (again), and this year, the Giants.

Randy is closing in on a milestone that few pitchers (just twenty-three) have achieved - three hundred career wins. He has 298 wins now, so its likely he'll achieve that goal sometime this season. There was some speculation earlier this season that last night's game might just be the one, but he was still 2 wins away when he took the mound last night. In all likelihood, this was his final appearance in Seattle. He's 45 years old, and definitely in the twilight of his career. Randy's fastball isn't quite as fast as it was when he pitched here, and his slider doesn't quite have the bite it once had. But for six innings last night, he showed flashed of his old brilliance. He left the mound in the sixth inning last night, obviously spent, with the game tied 1-1. He'd given up just six hits and struck out seven in his gutty 115 pitch effort.

The title of this topic is "two class acts in one", so here's the first class act. When Randy left the mound, even though he was now pitching for the opposing team, the Mariner fans (all 30,000 of them, a really good crowd this year) stood up and cheered for him.

Here's the second class act. Johnson reacted to the cheers by tipping his hat to the fans. He seemed to really enjoy the moment, turning around with his hat raised to see the whole stadium cheering for him.

Randy's a sure-fire inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. It's an honor he richly deserves. I hope that after last night, he chooses to go in wearing a Mariner uniform.

Here's to Randy Johnson. You're a real class act.

And here's to the Mariner fans. You are, too.

Saturday Matinee - Dr. John "Iko Iko"

2009-05-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

A great song by a great performer. Who could ask for more?

I Have a Bad Case of Diarrhea

2009-05-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

A question of character

2009-05-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Would you vote for someone who:

Was fired by a local newspaper he worked for as a columnist for plagiarism
Ran for mayor, using the business newspaper that he owns and edits to promote his own candidacy.
Had to move into the town he was running for office in, because he didn't live there.
After winning the election, continued to edit his newspaper, despite accusations that it was a conflict of interest.
As mayor, lied about commercial development to make it look like he was attracting more developers than he really was.
As mayor, used sockpuppets on the local newspaper blog (the same paper he was fired by) to praise his performance as mayor and to attack his detractors.
After being in office for a few months, demanding a pay raise, using a scheme that was found to have violated the law.

Would you vote for someone like that? If you live in Port Orchard, Washington you'll have a chance. He's the mayor.

Saturday Matinee: Joan Osborne in a great movie

2009-05-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

My wife and I watched an excellent documentary a while back. It's called Standing in the Shadows of Motown, and I strongly recommend it. It's about a legendary group of Motown backup musicians called the Funk Brothers. The Funk Brothers backed up most of the major Motown artists for most of the 60's and 70's. They may have played on more number one hits than any other group of musicians.

Here are just a few of the songs they played on:

Ain't Too Proud To Beg
My Guy
For Once In My Life
I Was Made To Love Her
The Way You Do The Things You Do
Dancing In The Street
Your Precious Love
I Can't Help Myself
My Cherie Amour
Stop in the Name of Love
You Keep Me Hanging On
My Girl
Shop Around
Going To A Go-Go
Get Ready
Heatwave
How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You
Baby Love
Cloud Nine
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Bernadette
Mercy, Mercy Me
Signed, Sealed Delivered, I'm Yours
Where Did Our Love Go
What's Going On
Ooh, Baby Baby

Rather than just playing original recordings of those great old soul hits for the film, the producers reunited the remaining Funk Brothers and had them back up some contemporary artists doing cover versions. Here's a link to a video of Joan Osborne doing "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted". Osborne sang it as if her life depended on getting it right, and she did. It's an incredibly moving performance. Check it out.

Allez Kitsap Pumas!

2009-05-15T17:33:00.001-07:00

Tonight is the home opener for our local soccer team, the Kitsap Pumas. They're in the Premier Development League, along with teams from Vancouver and Abbotsford north in BC to Portland and Salem south in Oregon. The team consists of players in their early twenties. Most of them are from Puget Sound, but there are also three lads from England.

I spoke with an assistant coach last week and he told me they're also trying to bring a guy from Scotland over.

My wife and I are going, of course. I hope they win. I hope they fill the stands!

Here's a link to their website

Saturday morning update: The Pumas scored first, and ended up tied with Tacoma 1-1. Attendance was about 1,500 - not a sellout but pretty good considering the economy and all. In addition to the three guys from England, (none of whom started), there are also players from Scotland, Canada, France, and Scotland.

Parental divorce

2009-05-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

An elderly man in Portland calls his son in New York and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing. Forty-five years of misery is enough."

"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams.

"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old man says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her," and he hangs up.

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone, "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this." She calls her father immediately and screams at the old man, "You are NOT getting divorced! Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back! , and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "They're coming for Easter and they're paying their own airfares."

Saturday Matinee: The Beatles

2009-05-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

One picture says it all.

Here's an abstract video to the song "Tomorrow Never Knows", one of my favorites.

Taking it to a whole new level

2009-05-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine in college told me about a professor whom he greatly admired. It wasn't for his intellect, but for the fact that he was ambidextrous. He'd stand in the middle of the chalkboard (this was in the "olden age" before whiteboards), put the chalk in his left hand, and begin writing. When he got to the middle of the chalkboard, he's switch hands and continue. My friend practiced writing with his "off" hand for a year, but could never master the art of writing clearly with either hand.

I wonder what my friend would make of this guy - a pitcher who throws equally well with either arm. Check it out!

Saturday Matinee - Jimi Hendrix

2009-05-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a great video of Jimi Hendrix playing an acoustic version of "Hear My Train a Comin'" Amazing!

How dare he be scientifically accurate?

2009-04-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

I just stumbled onto a news story about "local boy made good", Bill Nye ("the Science Guy"). It seems he was giving a talk in Waco, TX a while ago. At some point during the speech, he mentioned that the moon doesn't generate its own light, but reflects light from the sun. As the news story said

"A number of audience members left the room at that point, visibly angered by what some perceived as irreverence.

“We believe in a God!” exclaimed one woman as she left the room with three young children."

Huh? My question is this: when did believing in God come to mean opposing scientific fact? I thought that ended with Galileo.

Here's the news story.

Our next trip itinerary

2009-04-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

My wife and I are not experienced world travelers. Two years ago we both went off the continent for the first time, going to London for a couple of days and then onto Edinburgh and the Scottish highlands. We had a great trip and have been wanting to do another one since about 5 minutes after our plane took off on the way home.

So this summer, we're traveling again. Woo-hoo! Look out Europe!

Here's the itinerary:

August 29th: Fly from Seattle to Denver to Boston to visit Carrie's sister Michelle and her husband Joe. I've never met Joe, but everyone tells me that he's a hoot. I'm looking forward to meeting him!

August 30: Visiting Joe and Michelle. There's a possibility that Carrie & I will be going to Rhode Island to see a very old house that was owned by my ancestors. If that happens, my brother Steve be coming from Seattle and my cousin John and his wife Dallett will be coming from Philadelphia as well. I hope it works out! That would be really cool.

August 31: Visiting Joe & Michelle. The Boston Red Sox are out of town, so we might be able to tour historic Fenway Park - I've always wanted to see (and touch) the Green Monster.

September 1: Visiting Joe & Michelle. We'll need to hit the sack early, because we have a 9AM flight the next morning. Joe & Michelle have told us that they'll take us to the airport, even though it's a three hour drive (each way!). Bless 'em for that.

September 2: Fly from Boston to London. Leave Boston at 9AM. Due to a 5-hour time difference, arrive at Heathrow airport at 8:45PM. We're staying at the Park Inn Russell Square, recommended to us by some friends. It's right behind the British Museum, and just a few blocks from two different tube stops. I got an amazing deal - $116 a night!

September 3: British Museum. The plan is to take it a little easy this day, to recover from jet lag. Carrie also found a rubber stamp store a few block from our hotel, so we might go there. There are several walking tours in the area, and I think we may do one of those this evening, if we're up to it. If you have any good suggestions for recovering from jet lag, let me know!

September 4: Hampton Court Palace. Carrie is setting the agenda for our stay in London, and this is high up on her list. Since Hampton Court is quite a way west of London, I think we'll take a train to get there, and take a river tour to get back. Our hotel in London is about 10-12 blocks from the Thames.

September 5: The Portobello Road Saturday market. This sounds really cool. Antiques, flea market. Saturday evening, we'd like to go see a play (Carrie is leaning towards a comedic version of Hitchock's "The 39 Steps").

September 6: Take the train from London (Euston Station, about 10 blocks from our hotel) to Llandudno, in northern Wales. Llandudno (pronounced "Smith") is a Victorian seaside resort town on the north coast of Wales. It's a good base for exploring the area. We should arrive mid-afternoon, and spend the rest of the afternoon checking into our hotel and exploring the town on foot.

September 7: Pick up a rental car (already reserved) at Llandudno Junction (a suburb of Llandudno), and head south to Portmerion, a small, privately-owned Italianate village where that great 60's TV show "The Prisoner" was filmed, and Harlech Castle. We will also try to ride a narrow-gauge railway.

September 8: More castles: This time Caernarfon and Conwy.

September 9: A day of rest. Find a small pub, sit there and talk to the locals.

September 10: Check out of the hotel, turn in the rental car, and take a train from Llandudno to Bath, in England. Carrie loves Jane Austen, so this is a natural. Arrive in Bath mid-afternoon. Check into the hotel and then go look at the famous Roman baths and the abbey.

September 11: All day bus tour to Stonehenge, Avebury, Lacock village (was the Hogwarts village in the Harry Potter movies), and Castle Combe village in the Cotswolds. Should be a good way to see a number of sites. The tour company has been highly recommended to us.

September 12: Touring Bath. There are some great Georgian buildings, and a Jane Austen museum to see, as well as a highly-recommended costume museum.

September 13: Take a train to Salisbury to see the cathedral.

September 14: Packing and getting ready to leave.

September 15: A very long day. We take a train from bath to London, take the tube from the train station to Heathrow, fly from Heathrow to Boston, from Boston to Detroit, and from Detroit to Seattle. Then we need to get from the airport to home. We'll be getting up in Bath at about 5:15AM their time, and landing at Sea-Tac at about 10:30PM our time. Since we'll be getting home about two hours later, that means we'll be spending 27 hour travelling.

September 16: A day off to recuperate. We'll need it!

Saturday matinee - "One love"

2009-04-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a great musical tribute to Bob Marley.

Playing For Change | Song Around The World "One Love" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Ultimate sidecar

2009-04-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

I like scooters & VW Microbuses. Here's the perfect combination!

from craytonc

A Brit looks at American cable news shows

2009-04-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

A British newsman looks at American news media. This is hilarious!

From Charlie Brookers Newswipe.

Tiki fireplace

2009-04-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Now this is a fireplace!

Here's how it was created.

This looks cool

2009-04-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

I'm a fan of animated movies, and this one looks terrific. It's called "9". It's both written and directed by visionary filmmaker Shane Acker, known for two previous animated shorts The Hangnail and The Astounding Talents of Mr. Grenade. The screenplay was co-written by Acker and Pamela Pettler (Corpse Bride, Monster House). It's co-produced by Tim Burton. "9" was first an animated short that debuted in 2005 and earned an Oscar nomination. Providing voices for the film are Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Christopher Plummer, and Martin Landau. "9" will arrive in theaters on September 9th (09-09-09).

Thanks to FirstShowing.net

Saturday Matinee - Dougie MacLean

2009-04-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Dougie Maclean started out as a member of the Scottish band The Tannahill Weavers (Or, as I call them, the Led Zeppelin of Celtic music). He left them in 1981 to perform solo. I've always wanted to see him, but have somehow missed him.

Here are two videos. The first one, "Caledonia", is quite simply the most beautiful song I've ever heard:

And here's a live performance of "The Gael". If you're a movie fan you might recognize it from "The Last of the Mohicans":

Stress relief

2009-04-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

At a seminar called "Stress and Disease" by Dr. Nickolas Hall, an expert in psychobiology, gave an example of a coping skill for job stress.

When you have had one of those 'Take This Job And Shove It' days, try this:

On your way home after work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the section where they have thermometers. You will need to purchase a rectal thermometer made by "Q-tip". Be sure that you get this brand. When you get home, lock your doors, draw the drapes, and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed during your therapy.

Change to very comfortable clothing, such as a sweat suit and lie down on your bed. Open the package containing the thermometer, remove the thermometer, and carefully place it on the bedside table so that it will not become chipped or broken.

Take the written material that accompanies the thermometer and as you read it you will notice in small print the statement that says "every rectal thermometer made by Q-tip is personally tested."

Now close your eyes and say out loud five times, "I am so glad that I do not work in quality control at the Q-tip company."

Saturday matinee - Lewis Black on the end of the universe

2009-04-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

He gets so angry!

Unbeaten, baby!

2009-04-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Sounders went on the road to Toronto and proved that their two previous home wins weren't flukes. They dominated once again, thrashing TFC 2-0. The picture below (from The Seattle Times) shows their designated player Freddie Ljungberg scoring his first goal of the season.

The Sounders are in first place in their division. They have a goal differential of SEVEN after just three games, and have yet to give up a goal. Fantastic! It seems that Seattle now has a winning team to root for.

Here's a video of the goal:

Saturday Matinee - Swan Lake with Guest Star

2009-04-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

A presentation of the "dying swan" from Swan Lake, filmed at a birthday tribute to Prince Charles. Cheer up, duck!

Satuday matinee - Tom Waits

2009-03-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Simply the most unique voice I know of. Great song-writer. Enjoy!

Here's a video of "Chocolate Jesus":

Here's Tom Traubert's Blues:

And here's a copy of his classic "Eggs and Sausage":
Tom Waits - Eggs & Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susane Michelson)

The best school assignment ever!

2009-03-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

Thanks to Nino Karotta via Jalopnik.com.

Chicken Philosophy

2009-03-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD???

Plato: For the greater good.

Aristotle: To fulfill its nature on the other side.

Karl Marx: It was a historical inevitability.

Machiavelli: So that its subjects will view it with admiration, as a chicken which has the daring and courage to boldly cross the road, but also with fear, for whom among them has the strength to contend with such a paragon of avian virtue? In such a manner is the princely chicken's dominion maintained.

Hippocrates: Because of an excess of light pink gooey stuff in its pancreas.

Jacques Derrida: Any number of contending discourses may be discovered within the act of the chicken crossing the road, and each interpretation is equally valid as the authorial intent can never be discerned, because structuralism is DEAD, DAMMIT, DEAD!

Thomas de Torquemada: Give me ten minutes with the chicken and I'll find out.

Timothy Leary: Because that's the only kind of trip the Establishment would let it take.

Douglas Adams: Forty-two.

Nietzsche: Because if you gaze too long across the Road, the Road gazes also across you.

Oliver North: National Security was at stake.

B.F. Skinner: Because the external influences which had pervaded its sensorium from birth had caused it to develop in such a fashion that it would tend to cross roads, even while believing these actions to be of its own free will.

Carl Jung: The confluence of events in the cultural gestalt necessitated that individual chickens cross roads at this historical juncture, and therefore synchronicitously brought such occurrences into being.

Jean-Paul Sartre: In order to act in good faith and be true to itself, the chicken found it necessary to cross the road.

Ludwig Wittgenstein: The possibility of "crossing" was encoded into the objects "chicken" and "road", and circumstances came into being which caused the actualization of this potential occurrence.

Albert Einstein: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.

Aristotle: To actualize its potential.

Buddha: If you ask this question, you deny your own chicken-nature.

Howard Cosell: It may very well have been one of the most astonishing events to grace the annals of history. An historic, unprecedented avian biped with the temerity to attempt such an herculean achievement formerly relegated to homo sapien pedestrians is truly a remarkable occurrence.

Salvador Dali: The Fish.

Darwin: It was the logical next step after coming down from the trees.

Emily Dickinson: Because it could not stop for death.

Epicurus: For fun.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: It didn't cross the road; it transcended it.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: The eternal hen-principle made it do it.

Ernest Hemingway: To die. In the rain.

Werner Heisenberg: We are not sure which side of the road the chicken was on, but it was moving very fast.

David Hume: Out of custom and habit.

Saddam Hussein: This was an unprovoked act of rebellion and we were quite justified in dropping 50 tons of nerve gas on it.

Jack Nicholson: 'Cause it (censored) wanted to. That's the (censored) reason.

Pyrrho the Skeptic: What road?

Ronald Reagan: Well,...................

John Sununu: The Air Force was only too happy to provide the transportation, so quite understandably the chicken availed himself of the opportunity.

The Sphinx: You tell me.

Henry David Thoreau: To live deliberately ... and suck all the marrow out of life.

Mark Twain: The news of its crossing has been greatly exaggerated.

Mishima: For the beauty of it. The chicken's extension of its sinuous legs sent shivers of a dark despair into the souls not only of the silently watching hens but also the roosters, who felt a sudden sexual desire for their exquisite comrade. The dark courage of the chicken was as beautiful as drops of dew upon jade at midnight, struck by a partial moon, its light filtered through clouds. One of the deeply aroused roosters could stand the intensity of the moment no more and bit off the head of the beautiful, courageous chicken-hero, whose wine blood was deliciously drunken by the road, and he died.

Johnny Cochran: The chicken didn't cross the road. Some chicken-hating, genocidal, lying public official moved the road right under the chicken's feet while he was practicing his golf swing and thinking about his family.

Camus: The chicken's mother had just died. But this did not really upset him, as any number of witnesses can attest. In fact, he crossed just because the sun got in his eyes.

John Sununu (again): I would argue that the chicken never crossed the road at all. That it is a story concocted by the Clinton Administration to distract attention from their failed agriculture policy. Where is the evidence that the chicken crossed the road? Where, Michael?

Michael Kinsley: Oh, John, come on! Everybody knows the chicken crossed the road. What evidence do you need? It's obvious that the chicken crossed the road. Your whole argument is just a smoke and mirror tactic to distract us from the fact that most chickens polled now back the Democratic Party. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, John.

Siskel: I don't know why it crossed the road, but I loved it. Thumbs up!

Ebert: I disagree. The whole thing left the audience wondering; the chicken's crossing the road was never clearly explained and the chicken didn't emote very well. It couldn't even speak English! Thumbs down.

Michael Kinsley: But you both agree it did cross the road, right? See, John. I'm right as usual.

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Thanks to a fwd from fc@rust.net (Karen Reedstrom)

Go Sounders!

2009-03-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

Major League Soccer debuted in Seattle last week. I wish I could have been there. They played a marvelous game and thoroughly dominate the New York Red Bulls.

GO SOUNDERS!

Saturday Matinee - The Allman Brothers Band

2009-03-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Allman Brothers were the seminal southern rock band. They originated in Florida in 1969, and had a unique sound that consisted of two lead guitarists (Duane Allman and Dickie Betts) and two drummers. I bought a copy of their second album (Idlewild South) and was hooked.

Their best album was the fantastic "Live at Filmore East", a two-record set of an appearance they made at that legendary rock venue at the height of their powers. Duane Allman's solos were fiery, Dicky Betts' solos built up momentum like a freight train, and Greg Allman's singing was at it's soulful best. I found this video of them doing "In memory of Elizabeth Reed", recorded at the same venue nine months after the Fillmore recording session.

Tragically, Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 in Macon, Georgia when he collided with the rear of a flatbed truck carrying heavy pipe that had turned in front of him. The band carried on. Just over a year later, on November 11, 1972, their bass player died from head injuries he received in another motorcycle accident, only three blocks from the site of Duane's. The band carried on.

In fact, despite breakups and reunions, drug overdoses, personal squabbles, legal problems, and a marriage to Cher, they continue to this day.

Here's to longevity.

RV conceptualization, part II

2009-03-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

A while back, I posted what I thought would be a good idea for an RV. Well, here's another bright idea. This has to be the most space-efficient RV ever. I hope it goes into production!

How corporate policies are established

2009-03-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

Put eight monkeys in a room. In the middle of the room is a ladder, leading to a bunch of bananas hanging from a hook on the ceiling.

Each time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, all the monkeys are sprayed with ice water, which makes them miserable. Soon enough, whenever a monkey attempts to climb the ladder, all of the other monkeys, not wanting to be sprayed, set upon him and beat him up. Soon, none of the eight monkeys ever attempts to climb the ladder.

One of the original monkeys is then removed, and a new monkey is put in the room. Seeing the bananas and the ladder, he wonders why none of the other monkeys are doing the obvious. But undaunted, he immediately begins to climb the ladder.

All the other monkeys fall upon him and beat him silly. He has no idea why.

However, he no longer attempts to climb the ladder.

A second original monkey is removed and replaced. The newcomer again attempts to climb the ladder, but all the other monkeys hammer the crap out of him.

This includes the previous new monkey, who, grateful that he's not on the receiving end this time, participates in the beating because all the other monkeys are doing it. However, he has no idea why he's attacking the new monkey.

One by one, all the original monkeys are replaced. Eight new monkeys are now in the room. None of them have ever been sprayed by ice water. None of them attempt to climb the ladder. All of them will enthusiastically beat up any new monkey who tries, without having any idea why.