Em's Weekend Report

We had a lovely, mellow weekend at home with lots of fun visits and surprises. Saturday, I got to see my friends Michelle and Rachel for a quick coffee. It was too short, but so nice to see them. Michelle just finished her first semester of grad school – which she aced by the way - I’m so proud of her. Rachel is considering taking that plunge soon, herself, so we had lots of interesting things to talk about, plus I also saw Josh and Adrienne and Lorelei quickly, who were sitting at a nearby table. Then Patrick and the boys and I went to the Americana Mall, which is a strange, swank outdoor mall that they built in Glendale, of all places. It seems a little odd to build a shrine to American consumerism in the midst of a deep recession, but the boys love their fountains and outdoor play ground, so we had a good time.

After that, we celebrated the cool, Autumnal weather by making an inaugural stew in the beautiful sunshine yellow Le Creuset pot that Patrick and the boys bought me for Mother’s Day. There’s a funny video on the Williams Sonoma website with the Frenchman who own the Le Creuset company where he explains that everyone thinks the French are such fantastic cooks, but it’s really because of their pots. He swears that Le Creuset pots can make anyone a great cook, which must be true, because my stew came out pretty good. Also, in spite of the grey weather, summer fruits are everywhere, so to go with the stew, I made our first berry crumble in the beautiful pie plate that Molly made for me for Christmas. Yay! Summer.

We are ridiculously excited that our friends Julie and Thor and Scarlett will be moving in to our apartment complex soon. Julie and Scarlett stopped by this morning to show us their new townhouse, which, as it turns out, is facing the townhouse that Amy’s friends are moving into next weekend, as well. (No pressure, guys.) Jamie was an especially good sport. He just had his wisdom teeth out and the medicine he’s on is making him feel wonky, but he still played with the boys in the pool for quite a while. Patrick said it’s beginning to feel like Sesame Street around here – a feeling which was reinforced by the boys’ impromptu T-ball game in our play park and by our swimming and berry extravaganza with Amy, Jamie and Felix.

Check out Jack's form...

And Finn bringing it home.

I’m getting a little out of order here, but we also took the guys on the live steamer trains in Griffith Park. For anyone who hasn’t been to the live steamers, they’re a funny organization that Walt Disney started in Griffith Park which is now run by a bunch of retired set designers and train enthusiasts. They have working steam engines and electric trains that they run every Sunday for a few hours. We haven’t been there for a while, but Finn and Jack love them, so we figured we’d swing by. I’m so glad we did, because just as our turn came up, Thomas the Tank Engine pulled into the station. For the boys, that’s pretty much the equivalent of me being able to sit on the stage and watch Jimmy Hendrix play a concert – they practically wiggled out of their skins from excitement. Speaking of Jimmy, Patrick finished up the weekend by playing a set with Dan out in front of the Fresh & Easy Market in Eagle Rock. I love to hear Patrick and the whole band play whenever I can, but I still think Patrick and Dan sound their best when they play in a small, intimate setting like that where they can just be the wandering minstrels that they are in their heart of hearts.

Uncle Walt!!!

Happy birthday to Walt Whitman!!! I had the pleasure of teaching him for the first time this year, and it was really great to see how much the students appreciated his idiosyncratic writing. I think it helped to show what a lunatic he was! Here’s a good one (remember Dead Poets’ Society?):

********

Song of Myself 52

The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complainsof my gab and my loitering.

I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.

The last scud of day holds back for me, It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow'd wilds, It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.

I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun, I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love, If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

*********

Also, happy Pentecost to all!! An auspicious day for talking with strangers : )

Coffeehouse!!!

I was a little disappointed to miss the Brightblack Morning Light show in Eagle Rock yesterday, but we had our own show to put on at Franklin High School! Every now and then (the random appearances are part of its charm) we do a little thing at school called the Coffeehouse. This was started by our drama teacher, David Levine, and grew out of a desire to showcase talented Franklin students (and teachers : )) outside of the normal “talent show” environment. The difference is kind of subtle, but the emphasis is less on the “performance” and more on hanging out at a cool scene, kind of like the beatnik days of yore. There was originally an attempt to get the students to snap instead of clap after each act, but it was a little silly. Some of the Coffeehouses have been tons of fun though!!

It’s all pretty informal, which is probably why it’s been so successful. Franklin used to have a normal talent show and no one ever went, but the Coffeehouse is pretty popular. I think people like the feeling that there’s less of a divide between the performers and the audience (no backstage for example), and that they can eat and drink while they’re watching (ironically, no coffee however). Anyway, it’s usually packed.

As usual, there tends to be the “school” acts first – dancing groups, choir, etc. Then there are usually some poetry or solo acoustic performers. There are some great young poets at Franklin, and this is often the best part of the show! And then we have the bands.

For some reason it’s become traditional to do the metal bands first (I think to get them out of the way). I can’t say that I enjoy them as much as I would have twenty years ago, but it’s kind of charming to see how every group of students has its head bangers who play as loud and fast as they can. This year we had a group called Massacre performing a song called “Massacre”. You can probably imagine it : )

The part that I get the most involved in usually comes after this. We put together an informal, but pretty tight band of teachers, students, and actual professional musicians who back up some really good student singers. The highlight this year was a really talented student singing “Stand by Your Man” of all things. Strangely enough, the students loved it! Maybe 70's-style country is set for a comeback.

The usual show-closer is a number where we get as many students and players that we can, and do some ridiculous dramatic song. In the past we have done Bohemian Rhapsody (tons of work) and Paradise by the Dashboard Lights (totally absurd). The common factors are always that we try to get the band sounding as good as possible, and that the lead singer is a history teacher Sam Kullens, who is a horrible singer, but willing to make a complete fool out of himself!

This year it was Purple Rain, and Sam did a pretty convincing Prince squeal. I’m not sure about the outfit though (where’s the purple???). It wasn’t our best closer ever (I still think the first Total Eclipse of the Heart was pretty great), but it’s been a looooooong school year, and we’re all kind of limping along, so we did what we could. It was still a fun Coffeehouse!

Lift!!!

I just wanted to say a word about my terrific grandpa Hank. This is not a picture of him. However, a couple of nights ago, Finn asked me how paper airplanes stay in the air. I think that I probably could have made up something that sounded convincing, but luckily we remembered that we knew someone who not only flew, but designed and built airplanes: Grandpa Hank! So calling him seemed like a much better option.

Of course he was happy to help us out, and he talked to Finn for an amazing amount of time on the subject. It was so great to see Finn get completely sucked into the conversation. He calls his grandpa “Peepaw Hank”, and he kept on saying, “OK, now let me get this straight…” His hand flying around the whole time : )

I still don’t really know if he understands the aerodynamics of paper airplanes, but I know that he is so lucky to have a really good relationship with his great-grandfather. We love you Peepaw Hank!!

Star Trek!!!

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

We saw it this weekend and liked it - must not be real fans! Thanks for watching the guys Bell!!

Topanga!!!

My band, Morning Glory, finally played at the Topanga Days Festival this weekend. We’ve been dreaming of playing there for a while and, like many dreams come true, this one had mixed results. I’m happy to say that it wasn’t terrible, but I do wish it could have been a little bit better.

The festival is a big hippie thing that takes place over the Memorial Day weekend. Em and I always have fun just going there; there are tons of things to do, to see, and of course, to buy. They’re also pretty kid friendly there, with lots of activities that are fun for the guys and not too expensive. Finn got to slide down a giant inflatable shark, which is pretty much his dream come true! The food there is excellent, especially if you stick with the vegetarian hippie cuisine. They do a curry there that always makes me want to give the Moosewood Cookbook another try.

There is also some great music there, although they do tend to be a little nepotistic. This means that you might see a great blues band, or you might see someone’s kids doing Black Sabbath covers. This time we saw a terrific group of women playing folk songs in the kids’ area – they did traditional songs, plus Dylan & Gillian Welch (!!) and it was fantastic. And then there was Chevy Metal (Deep Purple covers).

And Stephanie of course.

Of course we’ve always felt like the one thing that this little séance was missing was Morning Glory, so it was exciting to finally have a chance.
Anyway, although we are fully capable of messing up gigs on our own, on this one we just had a little bad luck which cramped our style. It started with the band before us. Unfortunately, they were horrible – super loud and obnoxious – especially bad in an indoor room with brick walls. But the real problem though was not so much that the band was bad, but that the person who was “running” the area where we played (any level of responsibility is always in question at a real hippie festival) had to run out while the band before us was playing. Apparently she needed to go home to charge her cell phone!

So this awful band just kept playing on and on, so even though they started early, by the time the cell phone lady came back, everything was really late. For us this meant a really rushed set-up (never a good idea), and a severely truncated set – four songs!!! For a band that takes about three hours to get warmed up, this was a little frustrating. We also had some technical problems (mainly from rushing to get set up), and were definitely not in top form, especially when we realized that it would be so short. Don’t they realize that we’re a Dead band???

On the bright side, we actually played pretty good. Some members of the band (Dan) were of course grumpy, but it actually could have been a lot worse, and we did get a lot of nice compliments afterwards. We played a good Dead song (Loose Lucy), after which we got many Dead requests which we could have played given more time. But we also played three originals (Nightingale, Wake One Morning, and the new Nature Girl), so we got to show a more original side, which was nice. It wasn’t perfect, but hopefully we can get back there again next year & really do our thing! Artists are so masochistic. Thanks especially to Em, Rachel, and Doug’s sister for supporting us!!

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day!!!

Happy Birthday Bob!!!

Excited!!!

I'm so excited - Morning Glory is playing Topanga Days this weekend!!!!!! We've been trying to get in there for a long time (don't upset the Topanga Mafia), but we finally have a shot. We're at the indoor stage by the food area at 12:50 on Monday. Wish us luck!!!!

More info here:

http://www.topangadays.com/Topanga_Days/Welcome_to_Topanga_Days.html

True Blue!!!

Classic Art Naiveau. Thanks Eric!!!
"That's a Tic Tac."

Juggernaut!!!

There's a new movie coming out soon called Away We Go. It looks pretty good - humor, angst, Dave Eggers, etc. But the main thing is that they are definitely jumping on the Art Naiveau bandwagon! Note especially the exemplary lettering style. The A.N. juggernaut continues to role! Anybody have any other good examples?

P.S. Happy birthday to Henri Rousseau!!! Ha! Love you Amy!

Testing!!!

Hey Guys -

I'm blogging from my class. They're state testing right now so I can get away with such nonsense. Anyway, since it's Primarily-Text Wednesday, and I still need to pay some attention, I briefly give you the reflections of Abd Er-Rahman III of Spain (960 A.D.):

“I have now reigned about 50 years in victory or peace, beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity. In this situation, I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot. They amount to fourteen.”

Hope you have more. Peace!

Faire!!!

I have to admit, I was kind of prepared to write yet another grumpy old man entry (see Show!!!) about how things used to be better, the world’s going to hell, blah blah blah. The reason for this is that we headed out to the Renaissance Faire this weekend, and the last time we were there we were pretty disappointed. We last went about 5 years ago, and the Faire really seemed like it was on its last legs – cheesy crafts, lousy location, and a general lack of that mysterious Shakespeare on acid vibe that used to make the Agoura Faire so great. We went to a Faire in Santa Barbara a few years ago which was pretty cool, but it was much smaller than the L.A. Faire, and a much longer drive. So we have been Faire-avoiding for a while now. But this year I got discount tickets from school, and since old memories die hard, we decided to be optimistic. We went with Josh, Adrienne, and Lorelei, and if nothing else, we could gripe about the Faire with them.

It was not encouraging when we got off the freeway to get to the new location and drove through Irwindale, which has to be a contender for the ugliest city in the world. We drove into the Santa Fe Dam recreation area, and the enormous rock pile surrounding the Faire location didn’t exactly inspire confidence either.
Well, as you can probably guess from this set up, the Faire did not suck. In fact, wonder of wonders, it was actually pretty amazing!! Although we will never think of any location as being as cool as Agoura, the new place is not bad at all, with plenty shady trees and a nice lake next door to cool things off a little. Also, there were some really great craftspeople there, and it was REALLY hard not to spend a fortune. Actually we did spend a small fortune (for us) just for food and some fun things, but that’s the same as the old Faire, so no foul. It really turned out to be a great day!!!

There were tons of fun things for the kids to do. They loved the bubbles, but the real killer was the reptile handling - nothing could make Finn happier! Even Jack seemed OK with it - I was kind of worried that he would throw the skink or something, but he was great!!

There were so many amazing costumes too. It really seems like a bunch of people are committed to keeping the Faire spirit alive. I could have taken a million pictures of the characters there, but this Green Man shows how much creativity is still alive.

Like Dodger games, the Faire is largely about food. We were pleased to see most of the olde favorites - fish and chips, bangers, etc. It was all delicious! Didn't see the queen's buns though.

We really lucked out with the jousting! I've almost always manage to miss it at past faires because it's hard to keep track of time there. But we somehow got there right on time and had so much fun. Our knight was the guy in green, and he would have won except for some skulldugery on the part of this other knight. It was tons of fun rooting for him though. The funniest thing was that we were all shouting "huzzah!" as is customary, and Jack, who had a new furry sheep, kept shouting, "Bahhhh!!" It cracked me up : )

There was so much fun stuff. The main thing though, is that there is still a bunch of that olde Faire magic in the air (Eric might remember the mystifying “beware of the rock” episode). My own favorite moment came towards the end of our day there. As we stopped to eat a cup of delicious strawberry ice cream, there was a woman doing an acrobatic routine suspended high in the air by some floaty cloth. Suddenly, a huge procession came up, and the queen herself was deposited right next to where were were standing. The pictures can’t do justice to the weird dreamy atmosphere, especially since you can’t taste the ice cream or hear the beautiful music that accompanied the acrobatic routine. Suffice to say that it was a great Faire memory. Thanks for coming Josh & Adrienne!! We’ll be looking forward to going next year : )

Show!!!

I went to the Dead show last weekend at the Fabulous Forum. This is basically the Grateful Dead now that Jerry Garcia is not around anymore, and I was really excited to go. For one reason, the original surviving members haven’t toured together in four years, and the last time I saw them, they had Joan Osbourne (“What if God Were One of Us?”) singing, and it was a little weird. Another thing about the last time was that they had a guitar player named Jimmy Herring (I hope his friends call him “Red”), and he just didn’t do it for me. He’s way too “Wheedly Wheedly”. Some would say the Jerry was pretty “Wheedly Wheedly” too, but he wasn’t. Or maybe he was in a good way. Anyway, I wasn’t into Herring.
For this tour, there was no Joan Osbourne, and they have a guitar player named Warren Haynes, who has a band called Government Mule, and has played with Phil Lesh before in some good shows. Haynes also plays in the current Allman Bros. band, so the best possibility was that it would have good aspects of both bands – maybe the Dead with a little more Southern flavor – Allman Dead. Of course it wouldn’t be like the Jerry days, but it seemed like it could be pretty good in a different way. At least the songs would be good.
Dan and I met Doug and Joel in the parking lot, and we got there really early to enjoy the scene and maybe to play a little bit (a little shameless Morning Glory promotion never hurt). The parking lot scene was really happening and we had so much fun!!! After checking out the traditional “Shakedown Street” vendor area, we set up away from the main drag and started playing. We had a horrible sound system – no P.A. and Doug and I playing out of the same battery powered amp, but for some reason, it was really good!!! We were so happy to be there, it was a beautiful afternoon, and we were all going to see the Dead, and it all was just a blast! (Still waiting for pictures from Joel).
By the end of our “gig” we had a big crowd of people dancing, and we got a lot of great compliments – and hopefully some good gigs from it. I loved playing there for all those people who really knew the music and appreciated our 70’s era vibe. When we were playing "Eyes of the World" everyone was singing and dancing, and having a great time; I wanted to be out there in the crowd dancing too! I think I need a cordless guitar.
Anyway, we wrapped it up, talked to a lot of great people, and then headed for the show.
I really wish that I could say that the day ended up perfect with a great show, but no such luck.
From the first moments, the show was a little weird. Everyone knows that the Dead like to jam (basically to play solos around the songs), but typically, they would start out playing tighter shorter songs to get warmed up, and get the crowd happy before heading out into space. These guys just started at warp 3, and didn’t even get to the first song ("Viola Lee Blues") for about 10 minutes. This in itself is not necessarily a bad thing (for a Dead fan) – they used to do this pretty regularly back in the 60’s. In fact this was a lot like a 60’s show (they also played Caution, Cosmic Charlie, and Dark Star!), which is cool, but….
It just wasn’t happening. There were some good things at times (a pretty Black Peter), and the band was definitely being adventurous, but it just wasn’t…The Grateful Dead. Of course it wouldn’t and couldn’t be, but it wasn’t even CLOSE. Maybe it was just a bad show (people said they liked the previous ones), but Haynes didn’t sound that great, it was really loud and kind of obnoxious, but most of all, it was really dark!
Whatever people feel about Jerry’s playing, most agree that it was a pretty happy vibe. Not everyone likes this, and some feel that he could go on for a bit long (ridiculous), but it’s still pretty easy to hear the joy and lightness in his guitar - like a bird soaring around and just enjoying its wings. Warren Haynes just didn’t have it. His playing was very bluesy, but in a dark way that didn’t really serve the music. And the band seemed OK with this, creating a basically dark bluesy vibe, which was allright for a bit, but just became very heavy. Not what I was hoping for : (
Anyway, Dan and Doug left during the first set (their state of mind left them a little more sensitive to the dark vibes). Joel and I waited until the second set in hopes that they would pull it out. It started out promising, with a pretty groovy Shakedown Street, which has never been my favorite song, but is at least pretty upbeat. But then, New Speedway Boogie, which was the Dead’s song about Altamont – not happy. Then, they started into Scarlet Begonias, which is one of their all-time upbeat hippie songs, and everyone went crazy – it seemed good, but…they just couldn’t do it! Haynes tried – you could hear him trying, even getting the Jerry “Wah” tone, but they just don’t seem to be in that space, and by the time the song "Fire on the Mountain" was appended as usual, it was time to go.
We found Dan and Doug playing for some ticketless heads in the parking lot, and since Joel was pretty wiped out, he and Doug left, and Dan and I jammed like we normally do for our crowd of two or three. We played Eyes again and a nice “He’s Gone”. This girl named Sunshine really seemed to like it and gave us some chicken. It was a good end for a mixed day.