Mania, Meet-Ups, Music Making and Music City
Ahoy there, kids. I have kept up with reading even if I haven't kept up with commenting. Between my business on the bay and in the band and with the Boy, I have found little time or energy since the last time I complained about having little time or energy. Cheers to two months without posting anything of substance! Enjoy yet another purely personal update:
Still More Outings with the Boy
We took the Boy to the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39 in San Francisco. The $15 adult admission seems a touch steep for the size of the place and the wage of their interpreters ($10 per hour - what do you suppose the janitors get?), but the clever visitor will find coupons and other discounts that end up making the experience about right for the price. As evident in the image above, the aquarium shoots for the sensation of a stroll along the bottom of the Bay and the experience comes quite close. The Boy especially enjoyed the visual show, but seemed surprisingly shy at opportunities to actually touch any bay creatures. He managed to come out of his shell by the time we stumbled upon this sculpture, though:
We also managed to meet Melissa (
kempdog ) and Nick at Black Diamond Mines in Antioch, conveniently half-way-ish between our Alameda and their Sacramento. We timed our visit for wildflower viewing, and while Black Diamond did not deliver the fields awash in bloom I had in mind when planning the trip, I can't say anybody left disappointed.
We also tagged along on
gwynny and
synchronaut 's visit to Hidden Villa, a potential employer for the female of the pair. The Boy prefers chasing chickens to eating them these days:
Meet-Up
We managed to meet
herrgooch and T for dinner at Pasta Pelican. I won the bet on Bruce's height (the Wife's guess: 6'1" my guess: 6'6" actual: 6'7"), but everybody won when it came to witty remarks and a lively rendezvous. We'll have to catch up with you kids in Chicago if you don't make it back here first.
Music Making
I expect to make music in earnest upon my return from Nashville (more on that in a minute). In all likelihood, I'll end up writing, singing and playing guitar with some dudes from Hayward and Redwood City. I'll have to work hard to get up to snuff on the six-string, but I at least finally have a way to do so loudly; I replaced my stolen gear with a '70s-era Sunn o))) Concert Bass amplifier and 2x15" speaker cabinet. The new bass amplifiers I tried didn't appreciate distorted guitar at all, so I considered just abandoning bass amplifiers for the moment and scoring a nice new guitar rig, but that looked cost prohibitive. I had just about given up when I searched for the kinds of old bass amplifiers that worked so well for Kyuss and other über-chunky types when a whim took me to my newly-beloved craigslist, where I found what I wanted at the price I wanted. The rig howled enough with the volume at "1" that I knew I had to take it home. I hope you all get to hear me soon!
Music City
I'll catch a plane bound for Nashville tomorrow morning, where I will see my old friend, T-Bone, for the first time in over a year. We'll probably do more catching up than anything, but we do plan to explore Music City and at least one of the music stores therein, have me attend one of his rock shows, and cross into Kentucky for a day at Mammoth Cave National Park. If any among you know Nashville, Mammoth Cave or environs well and care to offer any opinions or advice, please jump in now.
Still More Outings with the Boy
We took the Boy to the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39 in San Francisco. The $15 adult admission seems a touch steep for the size of the place and the wage of their interpreters ($10 per hour - what do you suppose the janitors get?), but the clever visitor will find coupons and other discounts that end up making the experience about right for the price. As evident in the image above, the aquarium shoots for the sensation of a stroll along the bottom of the Bay and the experience comes quite close. The Boy especially enjoyed the visual show, but seemed surprisingly shy at opportunities to actually touch any bay creatures. He managed to come out of his shell by the time we stumbled upon this sculpture, though:
We also managed to meet Melissa (
kempdog ) and Nick at Black Diamond Mines in Antioch, conveniently half-way-ish between our Alameda and their Sacramento. We timed our visit for wildflower viewing, and while Black Diamond did not deliver the fields awash in bloom I had in mind when planning the trip, I can't say anybody left disappointed.
We also tagged along on
gwynny and
synchronaut 's visit to Hidden Villa, a potential employer for the female of the pair. The Boy prefers chasing chickens to eating them these days:
Meet-Up
We managed to meet
herrgooch and T for dinner at Pasta Pelican. I won the bet on Bruce's height (the Wife's guess: 6'1" my guess: 6'6" actual: 6'7"), but everybody won when it came to witty remarks and a lively rendezvous. We'll have to catch up with you kids in Chicago if you don't make it back here first.
Music Making
I expect to make music in earnest upon my return from Nashville (more on that in a minute). In all likelihood, I'll end up writing, singing and playing guitar with some dudes from Hayward and Redwood City. I'll have to work hard to get up to snuff on the six-string, but I at least finally have a way to do so loudly; I replaced my stolen gear with a '70s-era Sunn o))) Concert Bass amplifier and 2x15" speaker cabinet. The new bass amplifiers I tried didn't appreciate distorted guitar at all, so I considered just abandoning bass amplifiers for the moment and scoring a nice new guitar rig, but that looked cost prohibitive. I had just about given up when I searched for the kinds of old bass amplifiers that worked so well for Kyuss and other über-chunky types when a whim took me to my newly-beloved craigslist, where I found what I wanted at the price I wanted. The rig howled enough with the volume at "1" that I knew I had to take it home. I hope you all get to hear me soon!
Music City
I'll catch a plane bound for Nashville tomorrow morning, where I will see my old friend, T-Bone, for the first time in over a year. We'll probably do more catching up than anything, but we do plan to explore Music City and at least one of the music stores therein, have me attend one of his rock shows, and cross into Kentucky for a day at Mammoth Cave National Park. If any among you know Nashville, Mammoth Cave or environs well and care to offer any opinions or advice, please jump in now.