The end of another DecadeDance

Moving halfway through September and trying to get to right now before right now is next year.

Let’s make it quick….

I’m going to try something different here – and add all the images at the end…

I’m also going to avoid writing about all the nights of sitting around watching 30 Rock, going for the fine dining experience at El Pollo Loco, and making decisions like Ramen with or without egg.

Just the good stuff for you…

Wednesday September 23^rd it’s off to Hawaii for fun, snorkeling, and Angel’s 3^rd Birthday Party. We enjoy the sun and food and weather for a few days, then back to LA.

October 2nd we head out to Vegas for Audra and Brennan’s wedding.

Just, well, fantastic. Great people, great night.

October 10^th we head over to the Marriott hotel, near LAX to see Weezer play a Hot Topic private party. Good times, busted ukuleles, and trampolenes.

13^th, Dinner at Daichan with Paul & Kana

16^th, just the 2 of us… (la la la) …. At the Tam O’Shanter.

21^st, we meet up with Amy and Michael at Blvd. 16 – good conversation and great food.

23^rd – Paul and Kana come by, and we all sit around, playing with dogs.

Then the 24^th, and I head over to Shearin Manor to help Karen and RJ out with the massive Halloween decorating. Melodi and Ray are there as well, so we manage to get a lot done before Shelley picks me up, and then it’s off to the Palladium to see them Weezers again, and then a quick stop by Malo to wish Tomi a happy birthday.

October 30^th,

Shelley and I get all dressed up as Edward Scissorhands and Lydia Deetz, and pull in 50 bucks for our office costume prize.

Legion and Elsie arrive for some Halloween hijinks.

Off to Damon’s, and then to Pasadena for some old town haunt – basement building ghouls and creeps and screams.

October 31 –

The four of his go to Karen and RJ’s and hand out candies to thousands of kids, dance in the graveyard, mingle with zombies, and then after it’s all over go to in-n-out with Paul & Kana.

Nov. 1 – brunch at the 101 diner with Elsie & Legion, hang out at the house, play with them dogs, then they leave back to canadaland.

Nov. 4 – Time for DEVO doing their Freedom Of Choice album – New Waved goodness.

Nov. 8 – Head out to meet Jon & Holly & friends at the Metalocalypse / Venture Bros. Premiere party  – the geeks shall inherit the earth.

Nov. 13^th – time for New York City – arrive a little late and then rush to Nobu to meet up with Tori, some sushi, then off to Otto’s Shrunklen Head for drinks.

14^th – Metallica at Madison Square Gardens. Night one., then to the fancy shmancy after party and meet up with Jamie and Ted,

15^th. Tallica Night 2 – and then home the next morning…

16^th… off to the Silent Film Theatre to see Withnail & I with Jon & Holly, and a few charming words from the Director, and then… burritos.

20^th – off to the Palladium to see Mastadon and Dethklok regin supreme. Live action cartoon death metal, and it’s pretty awesome.

Nov. 21 – Shag opening, hang out with Heather & Adam, and Tina and Nathan, look at the art and arty, then off for Thai food.

Nov. 25^th, off to Vancouver – hang out with the family, see Legion and Elsie, do some shopping, discover JapaDogs, eat sushi at Zen, and a real homecooked American thanksgiving dinner (in Canada where it’s not thanksgiving).

Then back to LA on the 28^th

December hits, and it’s off to Vegas for a little drinking, a little neon, and a little heavy metal.

Dec. 4^th – Vegas – dinner at Delmonico with Karen & RJ, then meet up with Nadia & Aaron for a couple of drinks at Nobu

Dec 5^th – breakfast with Nadia & Aaron at the Hash House, and then for our 5 year anniversary  – celebrating with dinner at Nobu and then Metallica with K, R, N & A.

Back home….

Dec 10, why not, some more metallica – with Jon, and end up hanging with him and members of Dethklok, Slayer, Machinehead, Children of Bodom… and then end up watching the show from the pit. A nice stage side view.

Dec 11^th, the PFM holiday Party – at Rusty’s surf ranch. Aloha style.

Dec 12^th, up to SF, hang out a bit and then end up going to see Metallica at San Jose – last show of the tour – some more stage side action for the ex avoidance factor, then back to LA Sunday morning.

Christmas hits, get out early on the 24^th – dinner with Erin & Anitra at the Valley Inn – then home for champagne and cupcakes and some pyjama tv watching. Just the 2 of us.

Dec. 25^th – off to brunch at the Smokehouse with Amy and Michael, then off to Aunt Karen’s for the Family Xmas Dinner, then back to end the food filled day with some champagne and juk at Tina and Nathan’s

Then we slip quickly through the week and hit New Years…….

And on with the Pictures…….

drivin thru the summer

Ok, got about 2 months to get down here, and it’s time to do it now.

Start out…. July 23rd. Heading to ye olde Comic Con. Get outta work and drive down to San Diego. We hit the Tractor Room for some great food, and then hole up in our little Holiday Inn.

 

 

 

24th ComicCon mad rush – we gots one day and a whole lotta stuff to see. We run into Carl, then Karen, and briefly, sorta like some kind of Comic Book Drive-By, Steven. We meet up with Legion and Elsie, chat briefly with Roman, look at stuffs, take pictures, run around, and then drinks and dinner and drinks with K, L, and E. Then back to LA.

 

          

     

 

Saturday the 25th meet up with L & E, show them some sights – Clifton’s, Hollywood reservoir, In ‘n’ Out Burgers, Sunset – we have dinner at the Rainbow, and coffee at Hustler.

         

    

      

 

The next day a couple more sights – Griffith Park, the Tam O’Shanter, then they head off to Vancouver, and I head off for a haircut.

Thursday July 30th, meet up with Jonathan and his girlfriend for a nice dinner at Kiwamis.

August 6th we continue with our seemingly endless “newsworthy” deaths, as we say good-bye to John Hughes and remember all the wonderful movie memories he left us.

On the 7th, Fluevog’s and a brief vist with Carl.

The 8th hits, and it’s off to Disneyland for the Haunted Mansion Shag event and Cocktail Party, which was a little fun, a lot of waiting, and mostly kind of generally disappointing.

       

   

 

August 9th, we relax, very nice and wonderful California sunny Sunday, sitting outside in the backyard with coffee, champagne, and fruit. A very pleasant valley Sunday.

 

 

August 11th and I hit 39, with a nice dinner, just Shelley and I, at the Tam O’Shanter.

 

The 13th, Stephanie takes out to a joint birthday dinner at McCormick & Schmick.

August 14th, and Shelley hits 39, with a nice dinner, the 2 of us, at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland.

 

The 15th, Dinner at the Valley Inn with Karen & R.J.
A Little jump ahead to August 22nd, I start taking some driving lessons, ‘cause it’s been a long long time, and I’m going to need to do some driving here in little Los Angeles. Then we head off to the Nokia Theatre to see the Cult perform their “Love” album, live, with Tina and Nathan. Pretty cool… last time I saw this band was on the actual “Love” tour in, I think, 1986. Time flies…

   

 

 

After the show a nice late night post-Cult breakfast at the Pacific Dining Car.

August 23rd, Dinner with Nancy and her boyfriend at the Odyssey

August 29th, off to see Patton Oswalt and friends at the Largo… a lotta laughs, which is nice, especially with all the fires burning the hills around us. Can’t go anywhere without seeing huge clouds of smoke, and every morning a new dusting of ash on the car.

 

 

Then we are into September. Driving lessons pass, and now it’s time to start thinking about taking the actual test. Alright… soon…. Really.

September 4th, outta work early.
The 5th, we go to Clifton’s, head over to Josiah’s recording studio to hang out with Paul and Laura, as Paul lays down some groovy guitar, and then off and take some small cemetery shots.

   

    

    

    

 

Labor Day, the 7th, and we have dinner with Amy at 4 ‘n’ 20.

09/09/09 and it’s Disney time again, for another merchandise spectacular, and we can’t handle all the waiting and the lines and the people and the chaos, so we just get our stuff and gooooooooooo…

 

But those haunted mansion shoes are sweet!

Friday, September 11th, and we leave work – hit the airport – and off to Nashville.
Get to Tori’s house where we are staying until Monday, hang out, then crash.

And also, RIP Jim Carroll:

::from “While She’s Gone” by Jim Carroll…

Conscience is no more than the dead speaking to us
It’s hard to find comfort
In this world.

You brought that to me
That’s hard to let go.
Only you and I know only you & I

See

You have always been so far away
You have always
Been right here

 
 

Tennessee, September 12th.
Morning coffee at the Portland Brew, Drive to Memphis –

 

We hit Graceland, the Cemetery, and the wonderful Earnestine and Hazel’s – with it’s Soul Burgers and old haunted ex-brothel upstairs complete with old piano and empty bar… and then I drive the 200 miles back to Nashville.

   

   

   

       

 

   

   

 

Meet up with Tori and Betsy and have drinks at the Red Door Saloon.

   

 

13th, meet up with Tessa, Maurice, and the kids – Benecio and Estella – at the Loveless Café. Biscuits!

 

Hang out with them, head back to their place, have some coffee, and then downtown Nashville to wander, drinks at Past Perfect, then dinner at Bar-B-Cutie with Betsy, back to Past Perfect where Tori joins us, and then drinks, talks, back to the house, and bed.

   

   

 

14th… run some last minute Nashville errands, get our Portland Brew coffee, breakfast at the Pancake Pantry, back to Loveless to get biscuits to go, so we can bring ‘em back to work on Tuesday.

Stop at Third Man Records to pick up a couple of things, then off to the arena to get our updated passes, which takes about 2 hours. We pick up Betsy and head back for some Metallica, Nashville style.

 

Great concert, but at this point – not really surprised.

   

      

The big surprise this night, however, is the special guest appeaance, for 2 songs near the end of the set. On to the stage comes Lemmy (!!!)

  

Together they played “Damage Case” and “Too Late Too Late”, then the band and the entire audience said good-bye to Mister Motorhead, and Metallica finished off their set.

 

After the show we said thanks and farewell to Tori, who was off to the next stop, and then ended up at the Sunset Grill with Betsy, and had a great late night  meal with K. and friends before saying “goodbye and see you soon”.
A definitel interesting and fun experience – learned how to “Gargoyle the Keg” from someone who was in Kid Rock’s band. L. wanted to continue the party at some Nashville strip joint, but we declined ‘cause we felt we should attempt that thing called sleep before leaving in the morning.

We finally make it back to our last night airport motel room with about 45 minutes where we can pretend to lie down and sleep before heading to the airport at 5 am for our flight – Nashville, to Chicago, to Los Angeles, to work, and we are running on empty…
But make it through to 6 pm and head home for dogs and bed and sleep.

Now it’s almost the weekend again, finally, and in a week – off to Hawaii to hang out with K. and family, celebrate Angel’s 3rd birthday, and swim, eat, drink, snorkel, and relax.

london, budapest, paris, london.

So there’s more words to fall before the trip, and a few from after, but for right now, we’ll take a little step out of time, like it’s an episode of Lost or something, and hit just that one week where Shelley and I shoved as much as possible into a week long European Vacation. And not a single Chevy Chase sighting…

And all pictures included here were from the phone – there are hundreds (and hundreds) of real camera photos between the shootings of Shelley and I, but those are still in the editing phase… but they will be coming soon to a flickr page near you.

3.27.09
So, here we go… wake up, grab suitcases, off to work on Friday March 27th. Leave a couple of hours early and head straight to LAX for the requisite waitings in lines, airport hassles, and our traditional airport lounge pre-flight bloody mary. It ain’t real ‘till the vodka touches the lips…

Then we’re on the plane, with leg room (thank god!), and a long long flight to London. Shelley’s been there more recently than me, as I haven’t traveled to merry olde England since I did the transcontinental broken hearts cruise about 20 years ago. But I was excited. Excited to be there with Shelley, excited to be traveling again, and excited to see Paris for the first time.

So initially, we were heading over to meet up with my parents in Budapest. Turns out that around the same time period, wouldn’tcha know it, Metallica were going to be playing a few European shows…

We did some timetable schedule updates, contacted K. and crew, and there it was… some nice rock ‘n’ roll added into the equation.

The basic plan of “Budapest with the Feldmars” suddenly transformed into London and Metallica, then Budapest with the Feldmars, then Paris and Metallica, then back to London, with a last minute fine dining hook-up, and then back to L.A. – and we had just 9 days…

Again… here we go:

3.28.09
Heathrow, Underground, hotel. We hit wagamama for lunch. Japanese noodle house big with the English families. Hit Camden Market, pictures and a little shopping at the Black Rose for some gothabilly kid’s clothes, a quick stop to buy me a nice shirt and tie, and some black shoes, as K. had called and said we were going out to a nice dinner the next night and I would need something a little… dressy. Then it’s back to the hotel to get ready and get out to the 02 Arena.

Heavy Metal England.

Then we meet up with K. and friends to have a late meal at some nice but private dining club that I cannot remember the name of, but it was a long and winding drive after midnight in the back of the car. There were 6 of us in the back, and a bottle of champagne.
After the dining we were almost thinking about heading back to the hotel, but we suddenly caught a 5th or 6th wind and Shelley’s enthusiastic little “what’s next?” inspired K. to keep on going. So a couple of phone calls and back and forth and what’s up, and we end up at some Bullet For My Valentine afterparty going on at Bertie’s Bar, a small classy looking establishment connected to the Royal Garden Hotel on Kengsington High Street.
Definitely some moments there. Shelley and I hanging out, getting steadily more and more… tipsy… at this little nice bar that was suddenly overflowing with punks and rockers, from old school (Saxon) to new school (Machine Head). It was a little overwhelming, but it was nice that we knew a couple of people. So we hung out, a little with our new Sword friends, talked, drank, laughed, and were introduced to the art of moustaching… and made it back to the hotel by 5 am.

3.29.09
After waking up (a little late, but thankfully not too hungover, we headed for Portobello Market for coffee, brunch (sausages…), and wandering. Shelley found and purchased a very nice and wonderfully vintage dik-dik (which is also really fun to say… dik-dik) and I sighed sadly in front of the very closed Rough Trade records shop.

Then a little later, off to meet K. again – this time for food, not metal. We ended up having a great and relaxing almost four hour long leisurely meal at Claridge’s. Shelley and I got there a little bit early so we had a couple of very nice drinks in the fumoir. Then, when K. arrived, it was a pick up our drinks and a walk around the corner to our table at Gordon Ramsay’s.

A Little luxury can go a long way.

At the end of our meal, as the three of us were getting ready to start digging into the desserts… a little stinking bishop anyone? Not for me, the chocolate mousse will do… we were joined by T. and R., chatted a little, and then left the by then empty restaurant.
Hotel . sleep . early morning flight to Budapest .

3.30.09
Budapest. The fatherland. We make it to our little hotel, the Hotel Panda, to meet up with my parents. We dropped our bags off and then went straight out to have coffee with Balazs, a friend of my father’s, before going to climb up the nice, big hill, long stone staircase, to the Citadel up above the Danube.

Then an early dinner at some crazy little Hungarian restaurant,

and wandered around, photographing, listening to crazy Hungarian speak, and then some wonderful coffee and dessert at Gerbeaud.

I loved the coffee, and Shelley found her new fave – the Eszterhazy Torta.
We then finally make it back to our hotel, only to find that while it might be nice and cheap, it wasn’t really comfortable at all. The feeling was way more youth hostel and not at all relaxing vacation, so very quickly, a little embarrassingly, and with my dad’s help, we got our bags, got out and ended up at the K&K Opera Hotel. Perfect. Much more what we had in mind, closer to the metro stations, and the city we wanted to see.

3.31.09
wake up and wander. We find a nice little café across the street from Budapest’s Moulin Rouge, manage to order some coffees with very broken English, and then wander a little more before meeting up with my parents again in the courtyard/market are in front of Gerbeaud.

Andrew went off to do some work related stuff, while Mer, Shelley and I headed off to the Kerepesi Cemetery, wandered, took tons of pictures, and came across a crazy little Hungarian squirrel. It’s interesting to note that many of the things we encountered in Budapest can be nicely described by putting the words “Crazy little Hungarian” in front of them.

After the delightful graveyard romp we met up with Andrew and then a little snack and coffee at Muvesz, and then dinner at the Komédias Kávéház.
4.1.09
morningtime – we head out into the cool and grey Budapest daylight. The little pub across the street from the hotel all closed and lonely.

We hit the public transportation and make our way to the Ernst Galeria to look at some poster art, everyone being pretty helpful and friendly.

We find the Hotel Astoria with its fancy and proper décor and excellent coffee, have a little snack, and then a little shopping at Retrock.

Then it’s across town to the Vajdahunyad Castle, which is now the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture.

I know, it looks cool, but doesn’t really sound that exciting. The thing is, inside this castle / museum is the fabulous Hall of Antlers.

So impressive, fantastic, surreal. It was like we were suddenly captured and placed into some dark fairytale scene.
We left, and wandered up the street a little and suddenly we were at Hosok Tere, or “Heroes’ Square”

We made it back to Gerbeaud after that, to meet up with my parents, more coffee, then off to an apartment that was temporarily set up to be part of the Feldmar Institute (http://www.feldmarinstitute.hu/), and a slide show / talk by my mom, translated into Hungarian by Kata.

Afterwards, Shelley and I said goodnight & goodbye and headed for our hotel home. We passed the crazy little Hungarian Moulin rouge, all night lit, managed to do some late night corner store shopping for drinks and snacks, and then bed.

4.2.09
Early morning to Budapest airport, another short flight, and we’re in Paris. We make it through the metro connections, suitcases in tow, to our hotel. The Holiday Inn Paris Republique. With a view of a distant Eiffel Tower.

We drop our stuff off and find a nice nearby café to be our daily coffee stop – the Café Republique.

Then the metro, transfer, underground French life, on to Bercy Arena, and once again, Metallica. K. was busy running around before and after the show, so we managed a brief hi hello, we had a few drinks, chatted a little with B., watched a little guitar hero metallica showcase a la francais, and then, well, metal.

The Parisians rocked, possibly harder than any crowd we had seen so far, with the possible exception of Vancouver. (yay Canada)
Then feeling very very tired, it was back to the hotel and up and out early the next day. Catacomb time.

4.3.09
Off to Les Catacombes Des Paris, which was breathtaking amazing.
We could have spent all day wandering around down there, but we didn’t. some beautiful photos came out of this, and probably a hundred or so underdeveloped ones. There were plenty of annoying tourists who were prattling loudly and ignoring the “no flash” rule, but Shelley and I stuck to our basic lowlight exposure knowledge and felt better about the great pictures we did get.

You would think that we would be all deathed out by this point, but no… it was a little more café coffee, and then off to the Cimetiere Montparnasse. Meandering through the tombstones, stopping by the resting places of Serge Gainsbourg, Baudelaire, Simone de Beauvoir, and others. We had gotten a little lost at one point, looking for Baudelaire, when some strange cemetery dwelling French man starts yelling at us for a distance. We weren’t sure what he wanted at first, but as he was coming closer, it turned out he had spotted us, figured us for the Baudelaire types, and was telling us which way to go to find the grave. Bien! Merci!

Then… it was off to have the perfect Croque Monsieur at Les Deux Magots, coffee, and Notre-Dame.

It was too crowded to make it up to the top of the cathedral, but we did circle the ground floor, inside and outside, and smiled back at all the happy little gargoyles.
We made an attempt to visit Pere Lachaise as well, but ended up getting there just as they were kicking everyone out. Everyone alive, that is. We knew we could still make it there the next day, so all was well.

We did make it over to Rue de Bac to visit Deyrolle, the Paris Taxidermy shop that’s been around for about 170 years. They had been the victims of a bad fire about a year earlier, but the majority of their collection was still thankfully intact. There was a display of photographs of the aftermath of the blaze on display, which were simultaneously haunting, surreal, sad, and beautiful.
I managed to take a picture before noticing the no pictures sign, so apologies, but here it is.

As the day turned to Paris night, we decided to take a walk down through Pigalle, the Parisian red light district, also known as Pig Alley.  A neighbourhood in Montmarte, it was nicknamed Pig Alley during World War II when all the soldiers would flock there for the good times…

It’s the home of the Moulin Rouge, much larger than the Budapest version, and various other places of adult themed entertainment. There was an interesting mix of activity all the way down the street. From sketchy French men to tourists with little kids, to a film crew doing some night shoot.
We wandered down a little side street, trying to capture some more neon glow, and got yelled at by some lingerie-clad lady for taking pictures. Shelley managed to translate it as being something along the lines of “Stop Taking Pictures and just come inside.”
We didn’t, though, and continued on our short risqué neon voyage.

4.4.09

first thing, early morning, café republique wake-up shot. Then straight to the cemetery. Pere Lachaise. It was immense, amazing, layers and layers of tombs and graves. Truly a city of the dead.

We could’ve spent days in there, but instead, trying to be good and conserve time and our camera batteries, we kept it fairly short and sweet.

Getting hungry and craving the Croque, we left the tombs behind and went back to Les Deux Magots. We could eat there every day…

Then a little more meandering photographing along the Seine, then to the metro, the airport, and again, London, for one more night.

We arrive in London, make it to our pre-booked hotel, where we had just stayed earlier in the week, only to be told that the hotel was overbooked and there were no rooms.

Yes, we were mad.

Fortunately, the hotel managed to get us rooms, at what turned out to be a hotel that looked a little nicer, right around the corner from where we had dinner reservations, and a ride there with our luggage – at no extra charge. Darn right they did.
So, it all worked out, but it would have been nice if they had let us know a little in advance that we had no rooms… as it was, there was barely enough time to get to the hotel, do a quick change and clean up and look nice, and get to Nobu on time.

Ahhh, yes, Nobu London. We had a nice drink at the downstairs bar, then were seated upstairs. Thanks to some quick connections and phoned in reservations, Shelley had managed to score us a nice table in a great restaurant. A couple of London Celebrity spottings, and a “Hey, is that The Rock?” along with some very good sushi, and we had another Nobu Notch in our collective belt.

Then it was a little London just before Midnight window shopping, then hotel, sleep, airport, LAX, home, dogs, bed, sleep, dogs, sleep, and back to our regularly scheduled workweek on Tuesday after a day of doing absolutely nothing at all on Monday.

-m

the ice in boston is pretty

here we are, heading towards the end of january 2009, and already many changes. new president. that’s a big one here. i hope it all goes well.

but to get from the last post to right now, we gotta start last year. december ’08.

the 17th and the 18th – 2 nights of metallica in los angeles.

night one we took karen and rj with us, and it was fun. probably the most unenthusiastic crowd i’ve seen at this slew of metal concerts, but you know – it’s la. the cool kids here make all the jaded seattle hipsters look like overexcited teenagers.

night 2 was a little better, audience participation wise, but still – c’mon los angeles, bring on the rawk! we met up with paul, dave, ted and jenny, chatted a little with kirk, got to admire the new mark ryden guitar up close, and had a few drinks before heading home.

friday the 19^th, and it’s up to san francisco for the weekend to stay with audra and brennan in their nice little new home in alameda. coffee, taxidermy, hanging out with good friends, antiques, used records, waffles, and some metallica, san francisco style. back to la on sunday, back to work on monday, and we are heading into the christmas crush.

dec. 24^th we get out of work early and go have a nice xmas eve dinner at the valley inn with erin and lynn and anitra. steak and alcohol and good conversation. happy night all around.

the 25^th, and we drive down to hang out for the day with shelley’s family. a nice good food dessert filled football watching american holiday and we get home early enough to relax for a while, lazy christmas in pyjamas and hellboy 2 on the tv screen.

26^th and we meet up with amy for a fun dinner at barone’s, the 27^th and 28^th we just pretty much hang out and relax at home, managing to repaint the laundry room a nice shade of monster apple green.

a quiet last week of 2008. shelley cooks some damn fine dinners… which she should definitely do more often in 2009, and then a quiet night cuddling with the dogs on the 31^st. i make some nice bloody caesars to start us off, and then as midnight hits, we have some champagne, and slip off into dreamland… and we wake up into a whole new year.

jan 1 it’s a nice brunch at cha cha cha with paul & laura, and then we finally get around to watching the dark knight… sometimes things just take a while, but damn that movie was good. the 2^nd, we’ve got the day off work so we run some errands, make some new years cards, and then off to the tam o’shanter for steven’s birthday dinner.

a week of work and some little band drama, which i’m not getting into here (at least not yet) – a little tattoo touch up for shelley at paul’s shop, and then friday jan 9^th we meet up with karen and rj at the smoke house for a fantastic and long dinner, drinks, conversation, gifts, good times.

saturday the 10^th we meet up with tina and nathan at the laurel tavern, and run into debbie and grady – and olivia – so that’s a fun little lunch day, and then the holidays are pretty much done – business as usual.

go to daichan with nicki and sonia on the 13^th, always a great dinner there, and then shelley and i gear up for quick weekend travel mode.

friday the 16^th – philadelphia! we fly in, get out of the airport to take the train to our hotel, and… damn it’s cold! bonechilling winter night, and we were expecting cold, but that definitely took us by surprise.

we check in, dress up even warmer – i pretty much ended up wearing everything i had packed – 3 pairs of socks, 2 sweaters, etc… and we managed to take in a little of the city at night, the famous cheesesteaks, and then a hard rock dessert across the street from the hotel.

(that’s a johnny cash guitar up there on the wall, the blue one is iggy pop’s)

we turn the heat on in our room, bundle up, and go to sleep. saturday hits, a little bit warmer in the daytime, but still – cold! we head off to look for food, and find the reading terminal market and have a great little breakfast at the dutch eating place, and just enjoy watching the people, the neon signs, the old amish man selling candy… and then it’s off to the mütter museum, which is a little crowded, but still – fabulous.

a little excerpt from their website:

in 1858, thomas dent mütter, retired professor of surgery at jefferson medical college , presented his personal collection of unique anatomic and pathological materials to the college of physicians of philadelphia. our collection now boasts over 20,000 unforgettable objects. these include fluid-preserved anatomical and pathological specimens; skeletal and dried specimens, medical instruments and apparati; anatomical and pathological models in plaster, wax, papier-mâché, and plastic; memorabilia of famous scientists and physicians; medical illustrations, photographs, prints, and portraits.

yeah – good times!

then a little more philadelphia wandering, coffee, the liberty bell, and then back to the hotel to warm up and relax before heading to the concert. thankfully our timetable was set in a way to completely avoid all the political craziness that was happening right up the street – obama was stopping by on his little train ride to washington, so while we didn’t see any of it, it was kind of cool being there in the same city during it all. then it’s time to rock again, take the train to the stadium, and man – philly is right up there with vancouver in terms of crazy fans. insane! it definitely makes for a better show, i think. we had some drinks, had good seats, wandered around the floor a little, then after the show we met up with some old acquaintances – so we chatted with them and kirk, said goodnight – and off to bed.

sunday the 18^th and we take the amtrak to boston. we had thought about driving, renting a car, but when we heard about the snow warnings, we decided the train would be easier and much less stressful.

good thing too – as the train took us from philadelphia, through the eastern states – passing connecticut, new jersey, new york, and into massachusetts, the snow was coming down outside more and more, and by the time we hit the boston station, it was pretty close to a blizzard. it’s been ages since i’ve been in that much snow, and it wasn’t as cold as philadelphia, but it was a bit of a mess getting around. we took a taxi to food – lunch at the parish… with my favorite massachusetts beer.

then through more snow to our last minute hotel, since staying at jamie and angie’s wasn’t going to be a possibility, and then just sat in our warm room and watched the snow fall outside before heading out to the boston show.

and it’s another great show, meeting some new people, rocking out, and boston is full of life and enthusiasm, even in the snow. drinks, popcorn, and rock. how metal can ya get.

more drinks, hang out a little, and then back to the hotel. monday morning it’s off to the airport, fly to denver, then from there to la – get some lunch (burgers, quick!) – and then cuddle up and lie around with the dogs.

tuesday – back to our regular work schedule, and updates on life as it happens to follow at a later date.

moving thru december

Alright, gonna try and get everything covered, get up to date before the Holly-Daze hits….

so much to do in the next couple of weeks, and i just wish i could curl up with the pups and sleep for a while…

November ended with a very good thanksgiving meal at our house with Amy and Ben, and lotsa good food, champagne, vodka, and lying around on the couch watching Metalocalypse.

Then it was off to Vancouver for a very quick weekend trip, to see my parents, do a little shopping, drink them canadian bloody caesars, and take our friends Legion and Elsie to the Metallica show…

first off, alcohol and the new fluevog store……

then out for some great sushi with my mom – and a little driving through the Vancouver Fog…

It was definitely good hanging out with the parents – and it’s always such a strange memory head rush for me going back to that city.  not bad, just – a little overwhe,ming at times. it’s like every street holds a different memory, and not all of them are good.  So it definitely helped to have Shelley there with me… making new and better memories for the future…. like that one time on the floor in the closet? remember?

heh…

anyhows, thanks to good timing and all, our trip coincided with the Vancouver RAWK show, so we took our friends out, and “OMIGAWD” as they say… i cannot believe how much more the canadians rock out compared to the last coupe of shows i saw…  even Shelley was impressed by the crowd, and she’s been to a whole lot more of these shows than i have… i knew it was going to be a good one from the very start – because when the lights dimmed at the first SF and AZ shows, the crowd raised all of their cellphones and waved them around in that concert stadium way… in vancouver it was pretty much the same, but they all used lighters. i mean, these canadians were kickin’ it old skool style. and it just kept getting better…

lighters above, rawk below…

afterwards, we went backstage for a very quick hi hello, and then it was off to get late night pie, and then our fun Metal Night in Canada was over.

So, Hell’s Kitchen, Wazubee, Jericho Beach at MIdnight, Granville Island, Commercial Drive, Main Street, Gastown, And some Cemeteries, and then home to LA on Wenesday morning, and straight to work by 10 AM…

Friday December 5th, and it was off to the Roxy to see Keane… and it was also the day marking 4 years together for Shelley and I, so we celebrated that the next night at the Smokehouse.

and now, a little Keane….

Then it was pretty business as usual, work, band practice, dogs, cookies….

We had our annual Christmas work party on Friday the 12th, which was nice – hanging out at the Jonathan Club drinking free vodka… but the Black Kites had some recording to do over the weekemd, and Shelley was going to be driving to Fresno, taking Carl to that Metallica thing, so we didn’t get drunk, we left early, and fell asleep at a decent time, waking up without hangovers.

Saturday at 10 AM Nicki had picked me up and we were at the studio, ready to record – just a little two-song session, to get some new songs down and see how it was working with a different producer / engineer… and it was great. I think the songs, while still not quite finished, are sounding pretty damn cool… hopefully we’ll have something solid enough to pass around in the next couple of weeks or so…Sunday, more recording, Shelley was back from what sounds like another great show, and then in the evening it was just mellow night with Sushi and episodes of Dexter.

Now, monday. work. tired. Wrists are achey. head is tired.

Coming up, Christmas, Dinners with Friends, San Francisco, some more Metallica, and the beginning or 2009.

metallica, madonna, mayhem

Time flies when you’re, you know, busy doing stuff….

It’s almost the end of November, and I thought I’d get some words and pics up here, now, before this holiday season hits too hard.

October 17th Shelley and I drive up to San Francisco to meet up with Audra and Brennan and hit the Cow Palace for the official Metallica friends & family rehearsal show. On the way, we drive through smoke, then fire on both sides of the highway, then a road full of carrots from an overturned truck.

So after that – it was smooth sailing, right?

Actually -after that, a passing truck threw a pebble from underneath one of it’s tires, which flew up and hit our windshield with enough force to cause a quarter-sized star-shaped crack, which slowly started to spread across the glass as we drove. So Shelley was driving carefully as I was trying to contact some windshield replacement people we could meet up with in SF.

after that, it was pretty smooth… for the most part.

we got to the show, met up with our friends, and then – it was time to rock.

Great show, and for a Metallica concert, pretty darn intimate. We said farewell to A&B, and then went off to meet up with Kirk, and then out into the San Francisco night to drink Champagne at Bubbles, then off to the SF house to crash, before waking up early to meet the windshield replacement people, and drive back home, after a failed attempt to have lunch in Carmel, ’cause everything closes there way too early.

A couple of days later, it’s off to Arizona to see the first official show of the tour – it’s pretty much the same, but a lot bigger… and a whole lot more lasers and fire and crazy people. Rawk… what can i say.

We get up to the stage for a little bit, but for most of the show we watch from above it all – at the light board – which gives us a nice unobstructed view of all the Metal that’s going on below.

We fly back too early on Wednesday morning, slightly hungover after hanging out all night with Mark, Eric, and JB at some strange Arizona middle-of-the-desert mall, eating and drinking and talking… and go straight to work.

thankfully there’s a couple of days of quiet before Halloween hits. We get our wonderful portrait from Natalia on the 28th, which is also my dad’s birthday (Happy Birthday there!) – and hopefully I’ll have an image of the portrait to put up here soon – before Christmas. Really. I think.

So then it’s Halloween, and Shelley and I are Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett – and we feel good, look good, and win a prize at work.

Then, still all dressed up, it’s off to the Halloween Haunt at Karen & RJ’s – which is a blast – thousands of kids coming through, and great people to hang out with….

Then November hits…

November first Shelley and I head over to the Hollywood Forever for the Day of the Dead celebration, wander, looking at graves and altars, taking lots of pictures (which aren’t edited yet – soon, i think…). Then it’s Miceli’s for dinner, and off to the Egyptian to see a screening of “Curse of the Werewolf” – which is Excellent.

A very spooky weekend, which is all we wanted.

November 3rd, Lunch at the Counter with Shelley & Stuart, the 4th – I had my Canadian fingers crossed, Shelley went to vote,  and we witnessed a historic moment in the evolution of the United States of America.

Thursday November 6th – the Black Kites play at the Scene. small crowd, but it’s still a great place to play.

The night after, dinner with Audra & Brennan… and Pie!. They’re heading off to SF soon, so it’ll suck not being able to do our Daichan dinners, but – on the plus side – it means people we can visit in San Francisco.

Saturday November 8th, it’s quick travel time again, Driving to Vegas to meet up with Karen & RJ and have a nice dinner…. and hit the Madonna concert – we got soundboard seats – so it should actually be alright…

And we had a blast. First, it was an old school steak dinner at Hugo’s Cellar in the 4 Queens Casino, and then off to the show….

Then Alcohol, Vegas, Hotel, Sleep, Hangover, Home…. and lie in bed for the rest of the day.

November slides along, band practices, work, and then Friday the 14th we meet up with Carl for a nice sushi dinner (Cafe Sushi) and then we all head to Molly Malone’s to see Paul Freeman play – or i guess it’s just “Freeman”… it was fun, good to hang out with Carl – and Paul’s getting some good songs into his set.

Sunday the 16th the Black Kites do the practice thing, and then head off for some quick photos to be used in an upcoming video – created and designed by Kathryne Layne Paxton. It should be pretty interesting when it’s all done and together…

Wednesday the 19th, Shelley and I have a nice just-the-two-of-us dinner at Lawry’s. I’ve been living in LA for just over three years now, and that’s pretty crazy…

November 21st, and the Black Kites hit Spaceland – playing with some other interesting bands and surrounded by a strangely into-it Silverlake crowd. It was us first, followed by the Human Value, and then Shiloe and the War Tapes were playing as well. Spaceland. It can go either way there, but i think we pulled it off nicely.

Then Saturday night, Shelley and I, along with Peggy and Patrick – were out with the stars – hanging at a bungalow at the Chateau Marmont for Lucy’s birthday party. It was actually quite fun – i felt a little awkward, but a few drinks – and i was dancing alongside everyone else. Go with the flow, y’know, and i ended up with a good story to tell, and Shelley got to talk to Danny DeVito, so – it was definitely a night to remember. maybe that’s just the kind of place it is – only been there twice, but both times were pretty intense.

Then, slightly buzzed, slightly star-struck – it was a late night sushi bite, and then off to home.

Now – it’s now. Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday with Amy & Ben, and then off to see my parents (and, again, Metallica), and back to work.

Onwards we go…

somewhere between hawaii and montreal

Caught briefly in LA for a couple of days, between Hawaii and Montreal. Go Go Gadget JetSetter…

It’s the end of September, and we get one last black kite practice tonite before hitting the Pop Montreal stage on Friday night. A little nervous, but mostly in a good way.

September moved by pretty fast – some good times and some bad bad times. Like the black kites playing a show in Modesto with the Solar Powered People – and the Foreign Resort from Denmark.

We played a nice set at a well attended show, so everything seemed alright, but that was Saturday evening… Sunday morning getting ready to head back, we noticed Alan’s car, broken glass, and that was bad. Guitars and other gear stolen. Luckily they didn’t get everything, but still there was some heavy value, sentimental and financial, attached to what was gone, and it kinda put a big cloud of depression on everyone’s day. For whatever reason – this happens a lot in the modesto area, but nobody bothered to mention that to us, which kinda sucked.

Shelley hadn’t been feeling too well the whole weekend, and then around 2 am on Tuesday morning, it was suddenly really bad, and we went to the emergency room, where we sat and waited until about 6 am or so – when she finally got a little doctor time – we were there until 10 am, and they weren’t sure what exactly was wrong, so we went home, and just let whatever it was slowly get better… luckily it didn’t get worse.

So Shelley stayed home for a couple of days, I bussed to work for a couple of days, and then a few more days… and then Nick Cave.

Nothing like a Nick Cave concert to make a shitty week a whole lot better.

The Hollywood Bowl was packed, but not full, as we got there about halfway through the Spiritualized set. We sat in sound, and waited… and then the Bad Seeds hit the stage, full of thunder and fire and proceeded to just hit everything just right. Nick Cave in his western bad man moustache, Warren Ellis and his scary beard, lights and guitars and rock. The hit most of the new material, throwing in some nice moves and banter along the way, and managing to pull out some songs from Murder Ballads, Your Funeral, My Trial, Henry’s Dream, The Firstborn Is Dead, Tender Prey, Let Love In… so yeah. No complaints here.

Then it was my turn to get sick, and I’m still nursing a little chest cold – nothing like hanging out in Hawaii and coughing constantly…

We had a nice Daichan dinner with Audra and Brennan, did some band practices, did some el pollo loco… and then on the 24^th we took off a little early from work and headed straight for LAX and a pre-flight Bloody Mary.

Restless sleepless airplane flight to the island Oahu, and then it’s 4 days of the Best Blueberry Cream cheese scones ever, sunshine and sunsets… beaches, oceans, rainbows, palm trees, and tuna poke. We even ventured into Costco, where it was huge and empty and wonderful – and a poke bar. Found our Shabu Shabu place, had ramen in Waikiki in a little hole in the wall ramen house, went to Hanauma Bay – where Shelley went snorkeling and I sat and watched, Shark’s cove, same thing, and then – off on a boat – three miles off shore, where Shelley jumped in a cage with three other people and got lowered into the water to watch the Sharks Swarm. I would’ve gone in the water if I hadn’t felt all chest constricted – coughing the entire time. I do love being on a boat so much more than being in the water though. I could boat for days….

We found some interesting little thrift stores, got some great Hawaiian shirts in the goodwill, rummaged thru the salvation army, and then – more scones!

Hit the Pali Lookout, chased a rainbow, argued with the GPS, went to see Kirk and Lani and the kids on Friday night, and then again on Sunday for Angels birthday # 2. perhaps it’ll be another year before we hit the island again, but really, if it was sooner than that, I wouldn’t mind. I’m surprised at how much I enjoy the island life, but yeah – I do. K-POI Rocks. So a short, but full visit.

Then an even more restless and tiring airplane ride home – getting in to LA late Monday afternoon.

Tuesday, a last pre-canada practice, and then now – it’s Wednesday. It’s October. It’s Falling straight into Winter.

We take Diesel in to the vet at 8 am for her to get a little dental work done, and then it’s afternoon, and the vet calls Shelley, saying that the anesthetic triggered something, causing diesel’s heart to slow to almost a stop, and they had to quickly revive her. So everything is all of a sudden a little bit sadder and worry is in the air. The trip to Montreal is still happening, but unfortunately it looks like it’ll just be me, traveling alone and then crashing with the rest of the band when I get there. The show must go on, eh?

Shelley is going to stay at home and monitor little Dee, both of us hoping all will be well, and she will be her fine bratty self…

And now I finish up another day, and get ready for a bus ride home, and hope that the next time I write there will be more of that good, less of that bad, and maybe you won’t have to wait for another month for the next little entry…. and maybe canada will love them black kites…

Maybe.

Popping Montreal and Modest in Modesto

First off, It’s September.

things keep moving on and on. I guess the big news is that the Black Kites were invited to play the Pop Montreal festival in October. it just sorta happened, and we’re all very anxious and excited. First – it’s ok, we’re playing Friday Night at the Saphir, at 10 pm. good time, but there’s going to be an awful lot of competition going on at the same time. I’ve never been to this particular music festival, but i’ve been hearing good things – so i’m hoping that regardless, there will be an audience.

and then it turns out there’s some voting thing going on for some of the bands – who’s going to play the Sirius stage. so we’re all – vote for us vote for us – and i guess it worked, because we started kinda down on the list, but when the “contest” ended on AUgust 30th – it was like this:

	Artist	Track Title	Pop
	Black Kites	What To Do In Case of Emergency	34
	Flufftronix	Shark Attack	31
	The Craft Economy	OK.Ciao.Bye.	29
	Black Kites	Glass Parade	27
	Rachel Margaret	Fade (Master)	26

that was the top 5. we still have No Idea what it means, but we’re hoping it means something good.

Yay Montreal!

but before that, and before now… lessee…

I left off – on my birthday. August 14th – it was Shelley’s birthday. Together, we had a joint “party” or i guess more of a very nice gathering – of friends on Saturday the 16th. Food from Porto’s, wine, beer, brownies, great people, great conversations, and everyone finally went home by 2 in the morning. it was good.

August 18th – the Black Kites played at the Silverlake Lounge – i really like that place, except for the drinks – the prices, and how the drink tickets don’t really work for anything you want to be drinking (at least – what i wanted to be drinking…) but other than that – it was a good night.

August 20th – Shelley & I went to Daichan with Nicki. always a great place to go, and the next night it was our first full band practice with Gabe – expanding the black kite guitar count to 2. Thinking it’s going to sound great when we all start writing new songs together. It’s always a bit awkward when you join a band and start relearning old songs… i definitely know how that goes. it’s the fresh and new songs that you all hit together that really tell you where the band is going to next.

Then a quiet weekend – dinner with Amy at Damon’s, practice, practice, work, work…

and on the 29th, our first show with Gabe – at the Echo Curio. very small, very very hot. but a good place to start with a new line-up. felt like playing at the practice space whith a bunch of friends hanging out –

(pic “borrowed” from gabe’s site…)

August 30th, off to Daichan again – with Audra & Brennan. Next night, Natalia and Amy came over – we had some food and drinks (Absolut LA… we love it!). Natalia took a bunch of photos of the 3 dogs and Shelley and I – for some artwork she is going to be doing – very interested and curious to see how it will turn out. It was a nice evening – all of us hanging out.

September 1st, Steven & Tomi stopped by for a little bit – and then the long weekend was over, and it’s back to that daily grind. Saturday the black kites head up to Modesto to play with the Solar Powered People, and that should be fun.

until then – it’s just waiting for some good Canadian news to come our way….

Cure Waits, Arizona Disney. or something like that

wow. end of june already. summer is here, and a couple of spins, and it’ll be next year.

so – to fill in the gaps, a little pre and post boston updates.

May 29th – Black Kites played at the Scene – our last show until July 15th – which is coming up soon. It’s been crazy with band members alternating out of town times, but we manage to get a practice in here & there – working on some new material – possibly to be performed in the next couple of months, but more than likely it’ll be saved and perfected and placed on the upcoming album.

speaking of albums – somewhere out there is the Black Nite Crash album. look for it. get it. on vinyl, no less, though there is a CD included (so I hear). I’m so happy it’s finally done…. called “Array”. Yours truly hitting the drums. On Custom Made Music.

“Black Nite Crash is one of [Seattle’s] finest offerings, featuring impenetrable layers of guitar effects, bombastic drumming and vocals that sound as if they were screamed down through the communication system of the faulty Mars rover. This gives the band a gritty edge and frightening intensity, unlike some of their more melodious and dreamy peers… ” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

So yeah – Black Nite Crash – find it hear it love it.

now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

May 31st, Shelley and I hit the Hollywood Bowl for the Cure. Now, I’ve been a fan for decades, but have never seen them live. It seemed like the Bowl would be a good place to see them, and yeah – we had good seats, and it was a nice night, and they played their songs, and played them from all over their catalog… but something was missing…

the audience! where were all the old goths, punks, all the death puppies and shadowy rockers. why was everyone all kinda middle aged and hawaiian shirted? But yeah – i am glad i went….

It’s just kindof a shame that i was expecting to see something like out of the film -The Cure In Orange- and ended up feeling like i was at some gothic jimmy buffet show. but still, that’s an experience in itself.

Then, it’s June…. and Massachusetts (see previous post).

we get back to LA, crash, and then get up – as i gotsta get to the practice space for a little photoshoot / interview with scenestar – it went well, i think (still hasn’t been posted on their scenestar website yet – but hopefully before our next show….

And then on june 16th it’s off to Phoenix to see Mister Tom Waits.

my first time in Arizona, my third time seeing Mr. Waits – and while Phoenix was hot and heated and hotter than here, Tom Waits was fantastic. we had fantastic seats – 2nd row – and we had a great time. another artist i’ve loved for decades  – and here the crowd was as expected. from the part-time punks to the hippie stained hipsters. from the eclectic artists to the birkenstocked college kids (who all just want to hear “Goin’ Out West” for some reason –

but yeah – he wasn’t coming any closer to us this time around, so we had to head to him…

other than that – we had 2 days to hang out, find arizona graveyards, take pictures, and find some great thrift / antique stores.

and then – back home…

with a couple of dinners with friends – Paul and Laura one night – at Buddha’s Belly, Amy & Ben at Solley’s, and a Pasadena Animal League party/gathering at Karen & RJ’s… Throw in a work related seminar at the House of Blues, a lot of “end of quarter” work to get done, and a trip to Disneyland at 7 in the morning on Sunday the 22nd to get some “collectibles” for the Tiki Room’s 45th anniversary, and it’s been a full month.

(yeah – disneyland – 8 am – really – who woulda thunk i’d be doing something like that…. we got up before 6 am – on a sunday – drove there – got there around 8 am – and stood in line for 5 hours, because by 8 am there was already about 400 people ahead of us… can i just say  CRAZY.)

we did make friends with the people in line around us, so we could all take turns wandering off – corn dogs, drinks, and we actually managed to go on the Pirates ride… but by the time we got in to the disney store, got some nifty tiki items, and got out again – all we could do was go back home –

 

now…. on to July. 

Boston By Telephone

So there are other things to mention between last post and next post – but for now, just so i can get this out of my head before it all fades away – i’m just gonna talk about our recent Boston Trip. Wicked Awesome.

We start out June 4th heading from LAX to Boston. Early everywhere, since they aren’t making it easy to travel these days. High gas prices, high ticket prices, extra charges for bags, no liquids, no nothing. it’s like someone said “War on Terrorism!” but the airlines heard it as “War On Tourism!” – pretty soon our vacations will be a bike ride to the park, and that’s about it. Anyhows, I rant – on with the tour…

we get to Boston – after not being able to watch episodes of Lost on Shelley’s computer due to lack of battery power – around 1 AM Massachusetts time. Then – about 2 hours later we finally get our rental car… hundreds of people flying in, one person working. Just our luck we are flying in at the same time the Celtics are Playing the Lakers. That’s some kinda sports thing… a legendary rivalry. I kinda get it, but still – those Boston Fans are… Dedicated!

So – car got, and off to our late night short motel stay at the Rodeway Inn.

(just so you know – there will be a bunch o’ better pictures coming to the Flickr Page – just have to do some editing – but for this – it’s just a little cellphone diary – )

Thursday morning. Checkout. Dunkin’ Donuts. There’s barely any Starbucks here – compared to like, LA, Vancouver, Seattle, The Rest of the World… But there are Hundreds of Dunkin’ Donuts. Bostonians and their fanatacisims extend to donuts as well as basketball… oh yeah – and the same weekend we were there, along with the Celtics and the Lakers – the Red Sox were playin’ as well. That city was wicked overflowin’.

We dropped our stuff off at Jamie & Angie’s house – who were gracious enough to let us stay with them for a few days. Beautiful house… wonderful people…. fun and crazy kids.

Oh yeah – this is Wakefield… Not Boston. we didn’t spend a lot of time in the city… just a bit. Before we hit the town, to check out Newbury Street and thereabouts, we stumbled across the first of many Cemeteries. So – photo time!

Then, after wandering thru the headstones, we found ourselves in Cambridge, and found a funky cool little cafe called River Gods. and we ate. The food was really good – and the waitress was nice – she wasn’t too sure about us at first, but warmed up to us quickly.

– I’m already a little iffy on the dates, as there were a few days just filled with Thriftstores and graveyards and driving around the counfusing MA streets… Shelley did an amazing job of navigating though – we did rely on a GPS, but still – those Mass. Drivers are a bit wacky. We hit Newbury Comics, Fluevog, Johnny Cupcakes, and ate at the Parish Cafe on Boylston. We saw lots of old houses and old statues and everyone wandering around looking like crazed versions of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wearing way too much green. and saw some Hollywood style filming going on in front of one of the old old buildings. We found a cute little cupcake shop – Sweet – and brought cupcakes back to the house for everyone – and we found our way to the Warren Anatomical Museum – at the Harvard Medical School – no pictures allowed, but this was amazing. A room full of display cases – showing old ancient disfigurements – conjoined twins skeletons, skulls with strange growths, fetus bones, civil war surgical kits… like an Addams Family Playground.

We had dinner with Jamie and the boys at Kelly’s World Famous Roast Beef – but we just had Chowder… so i’m not sure how good the famous beef was. I was impressed with the huge fish tank – the five of us sat and ate and stared at li’l fish and hermit crabs. Also impressive was the Huge Scary Clown Face on the wall. Nightmare style.

Saturday (i think) we went off to Yarmouth Port, MA – because that’s where the wonderful house of Edward Gorey stands. It’s now a museum and gallery that holds the life and the art of Mister Gorey, and it’s kind of quaint, kind of creepy, and kind of fantastical. We both were kind of childlike giddy happy, getting a little tour and listening to stories about the man, his art, his life, his eccentricities. If you’re at all interested in Edward Gorey – this house is a place to be. The surrounding area is also so wonderful and quiet and old-timey – we had such a great time even finding the place.

Traffic back to Wakefield was pretty bad – Highway construction, rush hour, boston drivers – it all adds up to a lot of time spent sitting on the freeway. It was nice scenery on the sides of the road, though – a nice kinda lush west coast feel, but hotter. Oh yeah – much hotter. High heat, high humidity – heatwave. Coming back to LA where it was only 80 degrees was very refreshing. So – on the way back, we stopped in Saugus to have dinner at Kowloons – a sort of Chinese / Polynesian / American Tiki bar restaurant – with full on tiki stylin’ decor inside – pools and palm trees and statues and the obligatory wall of celebrities… (like Phyllis Diller and Sha Na Na, to name a couple). This place was pretty fantastic. Had some cocktails and finger foods and watched kids throw pennies into the fountains.

Saturday night – was our last night vacationing in the Sciarappa Household – so we sat around talking, chatting, watching James and Mike get all over-excited about showing us their home movies of when they were kids… i mean – they are kids – but time moves different in your youth – things that happened 2 years ago are a lifetime away – so we watched a couple of birthdays and of course – hilarity ensued. Then the kids begrudgingly wandered off to bed, and the four “adults” sat at the kitchen table and discovered the joys of combining Mike’s Hard Lemonade with Vodka (Absolut New Orleans) and… (well – just me for this one)… Banana Schnapps (or liquer, or something… Banana alcohol, regardless). All was great, until morning hit us…

the only cure for a banana alcohol hangover? Dunkin’ Donuts! Now i understand!

Then – Sunday to Fall River. Driving through places like Sandwich, MA – all around the Cape Cod area – such intense scenery – from the strange juxtaposition of the slightly low-income families and shops against the beautiful victorian houses and east coast greenery. Picture a lavish 1800’s mansion with overflowing gardens and a bunch of white gangsta wanna-be’s cooking hot dogs on the front lawn.

But – Fall River – to our home for the evening… The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast. The first reason for our trip was to hang out with the Sciarappa fam. The second reason – was to spend the night here. The house where Lizzie Borden and family lived – where her father and step-mother were murdered – fairly brutally for the times – not quite 40 whacks – but there was an awful lot of axe-play for 1892. The current owners of the house did an amazing job of restoring every room to as close as possible to the original layout – all antiquey and victorian – and we weren’t sure how many people would be staying there, but it turned out it was just us.

We got our stuff into the room we were going to be staying in, and then drove around Fall River – checking out the neighbourhood. We found the old Fall River Cemetery, and paid our respects to the (hopefully) resting Borden family – we figured if we were going to be staying at their house we should at least say hello… no need to be rude, even to dead people.

We got back to the house in time for our own private tour – where we were shown every room, told of it’s history, and stories about the people involved and the house and the area. Very cool, and definitely worth doing. I think we were both kind of freaking ourselves out about being there, and then before we went to bed – we watched “The Legend of Lizzie Borden” starring Elizabeth Montgomery… I’m sure that didn’t help put us at ease.

So we tried to sleep, locking all the doors around us – and hearing strange sounds every few minutes… it could’ve been the house, it could’ve been something else, all i know is that sleep did not come easily that night.

Monday morning – we were up at 6 am – in order to get ready to leave, and for our 8 am breakfast – cooked just like it was in olden times. Melon balls and Johnny cakes. A wonderful, filling, huge breakfast cooked by Dave – who has been the Lizzie B. B&B cook for 12 years – and he was great. Good food, good stories, then a stop at the gift shop (of course) and off to Salem. This was one Gothy Holiday…

We even managed a quick stop at Plymouth Rock. All Pilgrims and Mayflowers and 1620 and all that. I kept thinking about Fraggle Rock for some reason. We couldn’t even see the actual rock, but we saw a big Mayflower boat. The rock was actually under some Under Construction monument… we did see a whole bunch of crazy cars and young hipster types mingling with the tourists and the old East Coast rednecks. not what you would expect from Ye Olde Plymouth… it actually does rock.

Evidently causing a little controversy – the Salemites and the Witch fans not sure how to feel about a statue of Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha the witch on proud display in the center of Salem, i found it a little charming… The whole town is overflowing with both a solid and real history, as well as a cheezy and quite possibly thriving tourism industry – all based around the image of the witch – both in fantasy and reality, spooky scary and new agey (also – some Pirates too).

we wandered around the town – checking out the places and people. Getting a few gifts, for ourselves and others, and of course – little salem shirts for the li’l dogs back home. We were going to meet up with Jamie after he got done with some classes – must be strange doing the school thing in Salem… it’s almost like living at disneyland, but with more witches and less rides. But before we met up with him – we had to make one quick stop… at the Bunghole. I have to say, hearing the GPS voice say “You Have Arrived At The Bunghole” is really quite amusing.

So we did that, met up with Jamie for a little late lunch – and then we were off to our last night – staying at the Rodeway Inn again before our early morning flight home. Dinner at Legal Seafoods in Boston, which was vey nice. A slightly fancy and fun way to end our trip.

I think i’ve skipped over some details here – but that about covers our Massachusetts Journey… we woke up early – flew back home, and passed out in bed with three very happy dogs.