Wednesday, April 26, 2006
The Zen Gig
Well, yesterday was our annual Buffett concert, as I've written about elsewhere. This of course means it's time to party with other Parrotheads (Jimmy Buffett fans). Partying with Buffett fans is generally some of the best fun I've had out of bed.
Well, here in the Bay Area we had a couple of strikes against us:
1) Shoreline doesn't open its parking lots until 5 PM, limiting the opportunities for joyous reveling. And the Mountain View police were somewhat visibly enforcing the "no open flames, no alcohol" policy. (Though I did witness cases where a couple of officers looked at a margarita glass full of something, asked about it, were told that it was just the "virgin" mix, and smiled and walked away.)
2) The Sports Page bar, a traditional pre-concert party spot, has had difficulties with their entertainment license this year, so no live music was allowed. :( As I was likely to *be* the live music, this has been a bit distressing.
3) It was Tuesday. Some people actually had to (*gack*) work.
"Work is the curse of the drinking class." - WC Fields
Anyway, I arrived at the Sports Page around 1 PM, and nobody else was there yet. I hung out for a while, checked out an incipient party across the street, then wandered back. As people came in, I wandered over and introduced myself, asked where they were from, and handed out promotional materials and Mardi Gras beads like candy. It definitely wasn't the same as playing, and the ambiance was very different and more mellow without music happening. But I had fun meeting people from as far away as Medicine Hat, Alberta (?) and La Paz, Mexico. And I got to meet some folks I'd been getting to know electronically through BuffettNews, a one-stop site for people interested in discussing and finding out more about Mr. Buffett.
And I managed to upgrade myself, through a couple of interactions, from lawn seating and general parking to a fairly decent seat and reserved parking, for not a whole lot of money. :) Sometimes the Universe be beddy, beddy good to me. :)
So it was a fun day, and an opportunity to meet and hang out with some "phun pholks," to use Parrot-speak. But I had more fun last October in Vegas, where they *really* know how to party.
I guess that gives us something to aspire to for the future. :)
Well, here in the Bay Area we had a couple of strikes against us:
1) Shoreline doesn't open its parking lots until 5 PM, limiting the opportunities for joyous reveling. And the Mountain View police were somewhat visibly enforcing the "no open flames, no alcohol" policy. (Though I did witness cases where a couple of officers looked at a margarita glass full of something, asked about it, were told that it was just the "virgin" mix, and smiled and walked away.)
2) The Sports Page bar, a traditional pre-concert party spot, has had difficulties with their entertainment license this year, so no live music was allowed. :( As I was likely to *be* the live music, this has been a bit distressing.
3) It was Tuesday. Some people actually had to (*gack*) work.
"Work is the curse of the drinking class." - WC Fields
Anyway, I arrived at the Sports Page around 1 PM, and nobody else was there yet. I hung out for a while, checked out an incipient party across the street, then wandered back. As people came in, I wandered over and introduced myself, asked where they were from, and handed out promotional materials and Mardi Gras beads like candy. It definitely wasn't the same as playing, and the ambiance was very different and more mellow without music happening. But I had fun meeting people from as far away as Medicine Hat, Alberta (?) and La Paz, Mexico. And I got to meet some folks I'd been getting to know electronically through BuffettNews, a one-stop site for people interested in discussing and finding out more about Mr. Buffett.
And I managed to upgrade myself, through a couple of interactions, from lawn seating and general parking to a fairly decent seat and reserved parking, for not a whole lot of money. :) Sometimes the Universe be beddy, beddy good to me. :)
So it was a fun day, and an opportunity to meet and hang out with some "phun pholks," to use Parrot-speak. But I had more fun last October in Vegas, where they *really* know how to party.
I guess that gives us something to aspire to for the future. :)
Buffett warms up the night
Well, I had a fun day yesterday. I spent the afternoon partying with Parrotheads, and spent the evening at Jimmy Buffett's Shoreline concert. The one review I've read about it is relatively positive, and talks as much about the new sound system as the show.
And the sound quality was indeed excellent. I've started wearing earplugs at live concerts to protect my hearing, and everything that came through them was crystal clear. This is a far cry from the acoustics at the HP Pavilion, aka the "Shark Tank," where the echoes made it impossible for me to hear Buffett's between-song bits.
The show was innovative in some ways. Buffett has pared down the size of his band this year (and raised ticket prices...but that's another whole story), opened with an acoustic solo version of "Boat Drinks," and delivered one new song ("Here We Are," a Parrothead anthem) entirely by video. He did a couple of songs that surprised me, and I'm sure others - a fairly solid version of "California Dreaming," and a funkified version of "Dixie Chicken," which was opened by a wonderful solo by guest keyboardist Bill Payne of Little Feat.
There was a noticeable number of empty ampitheater seats, due in no small part I am sure to the exceedingly high ($126.50 plus service fees) price for seats. I got lucky - I had a lawn ticket (the lawn, I hear, was packed), but managed to acquire a seat ticket from a fellow Parrothead in a deal I could *not* refuse.
I'll write a separate post about the pre-concert partying.
And the sound quality was indeed excellent. I've started wearing earplugs at live concerts to protect my hearing, and everything that came through them was crystal clear. This is a far cry from the acoustics at the HP Pavilion, aka the "Shark Tank," where the echoes made it impossible for me to hear Buffett's between-song bits.
The show was innovative in some ways. Buffett has pared down the size of his band this year (and raised ticket prices...but that's another whole story), opened with an acoustic solo version of "Boat Drinks," and delivered one new song ("Here We Are," a Parrothead anthem) entirely by video. He did a couple of songs that surprised me, and I'm sure others - a fairly solid version of "California Dreaming," and a funkified version of "Dixie Chicken," which was opened by a wonderful solo by guest keyboardist Bill Payne of Little Feat.
There was a noticeable number of empty ampitheater seats, due in no small part I am sure to the exceedingly high ($126.50 plus service fees) price for seats. I got lucky - I had a lawn ticket (the lawn, I hear, was packed), but managed to acquire a seat ticket from a fellow Parrothead in a deal I could *not* refuse.
I'll write a separate post about the pre-concert partying.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Tiki on the Island
I checked out a new tiki bar last night, Forbidden Island. It's on Lincoln in Alameda, just a couple of blocks from one of my usual haunts, McGrath's Pub.
The decor and ambiance were done well. Lots of tiki figures, bamboo, and interesting little accessories. Tacky music, only some of it in theme, was playing over the house PA. The TV over the bar was showing something like South Pacific, one of those 50's movies with beautiful people falling in and out of love in exotic places. The back patio looks like a good place to hang out on a summer evening, contemplating the stars.
The drink menu looks really impressive. The story on the back is a *very* tongue-in-cheek satire of the "how this restaurant came to be" story.
The free appetizers were mostly edible. The meatballs were excellent.
I wish I could tell you how the drinks were, but I never managed to put in an order. The obviously overworked and outnumbered bar staff didn't have their routine down, and several times took orders from people who leaned in over me at the bar without noticing me. For a place that's mostly about the drink menu, this is borderline criminal, but I'll accept that service might be better on a night when the place isn't as full.
Oh, and they don't have anyplace or any current plans to put on live music. What a shame. One of the bartenders at McGrath's was there; she agreed with me that it would be an excellent place for me to gig, if gigging were possible.
Give it an "A" for "Ambiance," but the drink rating is.......still waiting.
The decor and ambiance were done well. Lots of tiki figures, bamboo, and interesting little accessories. Tacky music, only some of it in theme, was playing over the house PA. The TV over the bar was showing something like South Pacific, one of those 50's movies with beautiful people falling in and out of love in exotic places. The back patio looks like a good place to hang out on a summer evening, contemplating the stars.
The drink menu looks really impressive. The story on the back is a *very* tongue-in-cheek satire of the "how this restaurant came to be" story.
The free appetizers were mostly edible. The meatballs were excellent.
I wish I could tell you how the drinks were, but I never managed to put in an order. The obviously overworked and outnumbered bar staff didn't have their routine down, and several times took orders from people who leaned in over me at the bar without noticing me. For a place that's mostly about the drink menu, this is borderline criminal, but I'll accept that service might be better on a night when the place isn't as full.
Oh, and they don't have anyplace or any current plans to put on live music. What a shame. One of the bartenders at McGrath's was there; she agreed with me that it would be an excellent place for me to gig, if gigging were possible.
Give it an "A" for "Ambiance," but the drink rating is.......still waiting.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
New song - Going Coastal
I've got an MP3 of one of my newer songs, "Going Coastal." I started writing it with the title, and played off it into a tongue-in-cheek, tropical attitude song that's good "therapy" when you're having one of those irritating sort of days.
The song is posted on my Myspace site. Check it out!
The song is posted on my Myspace site. Check it out!
Running on empty?
I was just reading a Newsweek article by Jane Bryant Quinn on our energy dependency: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12333796/site/newsweek/
In it, she discusses the growing conventional wisdom that we may not be able to drill, buy, and shoot our way out of our energy problems. What then?
I'm writing this blog as a musician and "escape artist." What does that mean for me? Does it mean putting my head in the sand, taking my rum punch via intravenous, and ignoring it and hoping it goes away? Probably not.
I'm a fan of what Permaculturist and communitarian Brock Dolman calls "sustainable hedonism." We can live well and be happy while consuming far less. Granted, it's hard to grow mangoes in Minneapolis. But there *is* a beautiful world out there, in between the buildings and billboards, practically next door to wherever you happen to be.
The price of jet fuel may make it harder to fly, and to get exotic things from exotic places. Global warming will probably claim the Florida Keys as one of its victims. But if I can create and hold onto a state of Paradise in my own mind, it doesn't much matter what the price of oil does.
"They say this universe is bound to blow
I say we crank up the calypso control." - J. Buffett, "Apocalypso"
In it, she discusses the growing conventional wisdom that we may not be able to drill, buy, and shoot our way out of our energy problems. What then?
I'm writing this blog as a musician and "escape artist." What does that mean for me? Does it mean putting my head in the sand, taking my rum punch via intravenous, and ignoring it and hoping it goes away? Probably not.
I'm a fan of what Permaculturist and communitarian Brock Dolman calls "sustainable hedonism." We can live well and be happy while consuming far less. Granted, it's hard to grow mangoes in Minneapolis. But there *is* a beautiful world out there, in between the buildings and billboards, practically next door to wherever you happen to be.
The price of jet fuel may make it harder to fly, and to get exotic things from exotic places. Global warming will probably claim the Florida Keys as one of its victims. But if I can create and hold onto a state of Paradise in my own mind, it doesn't much matter what the price of oil does.
"They say this universe is bound to blow
I say we crank up the calypso control." - J. Buffett, "Apocalypso"
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Getting warmer...
The state of California now has some recommendations for a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/04/BAG74I33T61.DTL
It's one of those politically safe things that doesn't require anyone to do anything for at least five years, so they can say they're doing something while not actually *accomplishing* anything. Sigh.
One quote I find interesting: "...including a requirement that companies keep track of their greenhouse emissions and report them to the state." I can see the report I'd have to make now: "I farted on stage no less than fifteen times in 2009, but by trading emissions credits with Howard Stern, I only need to declare seven of these." :)
Ah well. It's a world.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/04/BAG74I33T61.DTL
It's one of those politically safe things that doesn't require anyone to do anything for at least five years, so they can say they're doing something while not actually *accomplishing* anything. Sigh.
One quote I find interesting: "...including a requirement that companies keep track of their greenhouse emissions and report them to the state." I can see the report I'd have to make now: "I farted on stage no less than fifteen times in 2009, but by trading emissions credits with Howard Stern, I only need to declare seven of these." :)
Ah well. It's a world.
