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The concert was great. We drove out to Concord, which is inland east from San Rafael, near Walnut Creek and Mt Diablo and it was a very pleasant drive, the afternoon wasn’t blisteringly hot. The venue is an outdoor one, and it was fabulous. It was really a double bill set with Kansas opening. They played really well (including “Carry On Wayward Son” which some of you may know).
I had bought the tickets online way in advance, as soon as they were available. We had great seats in front of Chris Squire, the bass player. Normally I like to get as close as possible to the YES guitarist, Steve Howe (because he is godlike in his talent) but Mr Squire is pretty dam’ good also. Particularly given the setlist:
Close to the Edge / Starship Trooper / Gates Of Delirium / Leaves of Green / Ritual / I’ve Seen All Good People / Roundabout
It was a nostalgia concert really, and maybe the last chance to see some of these pieces being performed. Wouldn’t have missed it for anything. (I feel so lucky to be able to see it!) Josh and Derek seemed to enjoy it too, but then again I didn’t notice them delving into the CD shelves for the old YES albums from the 70’s in order to hear the songs again <g>.
[August 2003 Update: Derek seems quite interested in Yes and has taken my old Yes CD’s back to the East coast with him.]
If you do nothing else this summer, go and see Disney’s CGI flick, Dinosaur. And then leave after the first 25 minutes. Trust me – anything you could possibly imagine could not be worse than what you will see if you stay. You’ll be glad you did.
Strawberry Village,
Redwood Highway,
Marin County,
CA
Imagine my surprise when I saw this logo. Look familiar? I’m sure that this is the real Manhattan Bagel and those guys in NZ (see below) have either franchised it, or I suppose it could be a knock-off…
Anyway, the important thing is: THESE BAGELS ARE PRETTY GOOD! They have a little cafe outlet in Strawberry Village with great decor, and even though they were very busy when we were there, it was so nice that we didn’t mind joining the queue and waiting. The bagels are crusty, a little doughier than the average, but this is how I like them so I’m not complaining. They seem to have all the usual flavors and no hideous combinations (although they seem to offer some weird spreads…). Their espresso coffee is passable, but seeing as they are right next to Starbucks, if you prefer, you can get your coffee next door. They don’t seem to mind!
Grade: B-
Sometimes, critics are just plain wrong.
I usually respect what Roger Ebert has to say about upcoming movies. I agreed with him about Magnolia, for example. However, having just read his review of Gladiator, I think he may have actually lost his way and wandered into a different film. That’s about the only excuse I will allow him. Many people (who have not seen Spartacus and never will) are going to see Gladiator and having a rollicking good time. Yes, the dialog is corny. So knock half a star off the rating. We’re not going for superior dialog anyway. We’re going for the action, the arena, and the art of epic film making. Roger says, “The film looks muddy, fuzzy and indistinct.” Perhaps Roger should take his glasses with him next time he goes to a movie. As for his comments on the re-creation of ancient Roman architecture: “the Colosseum in Rome looks like a model from a computer game.” Giving credit where credit is due, those computer game graphics wizards are coming up with some pretty life-like stuff these days. However, I suspect that if Roger flew over Manhattan in a balloon, he’d be leaning over the rail, shouting, “Look, it’s a kitset. You can see the joins! And they got it wrong!”.
I set our toaster oven on fire. Pretty exciting at the time. Pine nuts are very flamable if you don’t keep your eye on them. I knew that if I opened the little glass door, the flames would woosh out as they got oxygen, so I ran to the back sliding door, opened it, unplugged the unit and carried it (hot and dribbling smoke) gingerly outside. Then I (even more gingerly) opened the door with a stick, jumped back (the flames *did* whoosh out) and dumped a bucket of water over it.
I was lucky that the bucket was there, but we have a leaky gutter and I put the bucket under the leak for just such an emergency. Handy.
Lisa tried cleaning the toaster oven, but it was a thankless job, as we don’t even like the oven much. It turned out to be not really the kind of oven we would have bought except that we were in a hurry for kitchen appliances at the time. So we’re retiring it, and we’ll find a home for it somewhere.
We now have a new toaster oven, and I have decided to use the “toast” setting for pine nuts from now on. (It has a timer).
I hope you all had a fantastic time watching the odometer roll over to a new century. Here’s to seeing the second millennium out for real next year.
I have a new respect for figs. We thought that our tree out the back had stopped producing, but recently it has gone into overdrive, blowing little purple bubbles for all its worth. We have been picking them, and some of them we give next door. Lisa eats them raw, but I tried one and I didn’t like it. There was something about the taste that just didn’t appeal. We thought about drying them, and actually looked for a dehydrator, but eventually we tried drying them in the oven, with some success. They shrivel up beautifully and are very tasty. We just can’t eat them fast enough!
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Recently we succumbed to a long nurtured desire to own a large and powerful telescope. This may have had something to do with the current excellent positioning of Saturn and Jupiter for viewing. We checked online, and it turned out that an excellent site (www.telescope.com, duh) is maintained by a reasonably local company. After much research, we ordered a Skyquest XT6 6″ newtonian reflector on a dobsonian mount.
It’s pretty cool, just heavy enough to be stable and still be able to lug around. The tube can be unclipped from the mount with a couple of springs, and would fit in the trunk of the car if it weren’t for the fact that you want to treat the tube gently, what with the mirror and the sighting scope and stuff.
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