Glen's Blog

Going to Italy in April 2011

2011-03-16T10:44:00.001-07:00

Gunn choir is going to Italy in April, 2011! I'll be blogging it as we go, here

2011

2011-01-13T16:18:00.000-08:00

So, 2009 & 2010 came and went without a single entry in my blog...I suppose I will mostly claim that Facebook satisfied my need for providing an update place on my activities. Of course all the activities have to fit the Facebook template (status/picture/link) but hey, who really pays attention past the first sentence anyway. And now here we are, in 2011!

2010 was a pretty good year, all things considered. Given the crappy economic conditions I am just happy that I made it all the way through with the same job, home and (almost all the way) car (the unfortunate demise of my car in December led to a new car hunt before Christmas, probably everybody's least favorite shopping task). More importantly, however, I'm still healthy and blessed with an abundance of friends & activities.

I had some fun travel in 2010, and some not-so-fun. I spent a week in Seville (Spain) for a conference & sight-seeing; had a great trip to New York City with the Gunn HS choir (and some extra time with my local friends), a trip to St. Louis for my little sister's 50th birthday, a weekend in Washington DC visiting friends (and the 'Rally to Restore Sanity'), a couple trips to Boston and a few to San Diego. Enough for elite status at United, anyway.

2009 was a long time ago, now what did I do then...Well, there was that trip to Prague & Vienna with the Gunn choir, places I probably would never have gone otherwise, and glad that I did. Another trip to NYC, oh yeah - a week in Barcelona (Christmas & my birthday, also New Years' Eve). And Mom's big 80th birthday bash in November, back in Delphos - first time in a while that the whole family was together (even if only for a day or so).

I guess I'm hoping to update this blog a little more often, and hoping that this fills the gap since the last post, even if only a little. Here's hoping that 2011 is a great year!

I dreamed about my father last night

2009-01-28T19:13:00.001-08:00

I don't do it often. He's been dead for 17 years now, and I don't think about him a lot. But this dream was vivid...he and I were talking, and even though I don't recall the subject I know there was tension between us; unspoken (as always, and probably on my part). But more to the point, I discovered a huge stack of journals he'd kept, with colossal detail on his feelings about and reactions to the people around him from day to day. The journals showed an inner awareness that I never saw from the outside; and it wasn't really a good feeling -- as though he'd been hiding this side of himself from me (from all of his family). The journals were really more like the sort of thing I might have written (hey, it *was* MY dream).

It left me disturbed, and not a little because I realized that he's still with me. I've been away from home for over 30 years, he's been dead for almost 20, and I'm not done with him yet. Will I ever be, and what would that be like? Am I fooling myself when I think I might be? Am I still a little boy when I think of him that way? I've thought for a long time that I didn't need his approval any more. Do I, though?

Another boring post from another trans-continental flight

2009-01-15T16:34:00.000-08:00

11:04 AM, January 15, 2009

I lucked out twice in a row, scoring an Economy Plus seat (5 extra inches, woo-hoo!) with nobody sitting next to me on the trip out Monday and the trip back today. It makes flying about twice as good (or half as bad, I suppose). Thinking back I'm a little surprised to realize that I haven't flown since last August, which was also to Dulles Airport. In fact, last year I only flew 15K miles, which is not even enough to qualify for premier frequent flyer status -- the first year in, oh, the past five or so at least. I can't say I miss traveling so much, and I don't know that it will stay that way, but you never know with this sort of thing.

Choosing to read Mary Roach's book 'Stiff' on this flight may have been bad timing...even though I took my normal Bonine medication before takeoff, her vivid descriptions of dissection, vivisection and decomposition were starting to make me queasy so I had to set it aside. It's a great read, though, and I heartily recommend it -- along with "Bonk", her study of the science of sex research. But I don't think I'll pick it up again until this flight ends...

I'm on my way back home from Manassas, Virginia, about 30 minutes outside Washington DC. I've been there since Monday (it's Thursday) visiting with Lockheed Martin employees who used to be part of my company, on a project which I'm still involved in. I think it was a good visit, and it reminds me of some of the reasons I prefer the smaller company environment (that is, NOT Lockheed Martin!). Nothing major, of course, but in Santa Clara I never get lost inside a building trying to get from the lobby to a conference room!

I had considered sticking around the DC area until next week, to catch the inauguration, but that would be more hassle than it's worth unless I already had a ticket. As it is, wanting to be one of the estimated 2 million people in town when it's so cold (and Palo Alto is so warm, 78 degrees yesterday!) seems rather silly. So home I go.

I have been watching the second season of 'The Tudors', the Showtime series about Henry VIII and his wives. We are currently growing tired of wife #2, Ann Boleyn, who has lamentably only provided a female child so far. She's still smokin' hot (Natalie Dormer) but King Henry has gotten bored with her. I hope my battery lasts till the end of this episode; Ann just gave Henry his approval to sleep with one of her ladies in waiting (one less pretty than Ann, and one she can control). Could be fun to watch, but I'm always self-conscious about what's on my laptop screen when I'm flying. Much as I love the boobies I don't know if the people in the row behind me might approve.

Oh, snap! Queen Ann just got totally schooled by Mary, Henry's daughter by his first wife Katherine. Still, I know it won't turn out well for Mary, but I also know it's going to turn out even worse for Ann. But that is certain to be several episodes ahead, if not next season.

Last month I turned 50. Five decades, two score and ten, a half century. Got my AARP card in the mail (how the hell did the American Association of Retired Persons find me ?!?) So far I certainly don't feel very different; in fact, I don't really feel very different from when I was thirty...although some things are harder to see, and the guy in the mirror is looking older and older (maybe a blessing that the vision is going too?). But turning fifty gave me the opportunity to give myself a rare present -- a wonderful dinner party with my family (in part at least) and as many of my good friends as I could fit into a ballroom. In a way this was the wedding reception I would have had, if I'd ever married. It was an expensive party, and took a little time & effort to plan, but it turned out almost exactly as I had hoped. I sorely missed the friends and family who couldn't be there, and there were a few who I thought long and hard about inviting but didn't...properly so, I think. Even so I had about eighty five people for the whole evening, and another eight or ten who came by during the first hour and a half (never underestimate the drawing power of free liquor!). Even I was a little shocked to see how many people I could draw out on a cold December night, and most so nicely dressed to boot (photos of the evening here).

It was a wonderful night, and I'm very glad that I have it to remember.

Oh hey, King Henry is now sleeping with Madge, the queen's lady in waiting - with the queen's approval! No boobies on the screen, though. Rats. And here's Ann parading around with her big pregnant belly holding baby #2...oops, miscarriage. Guess that's the end of Henry & Madge. Boy, Ann's dad is a real prick. Whored his daughter to the king for influence and then accuses her of killing her own baby. And look who the King has just met, a lovely common lady named Bess. Hello, next mistress! Or wife number three? And more importantly, hello boobies! Then again, as the Pope (Peter O'Toole, gumming the scenery) so astutely observes, however, sometimes celibacy is an immense relief.

It's 12:15 now...a little over three hours left in the flight. I still have plenty of battery left, thanks to the spare that I got last week. We're someplace over the vast American west (Montana? Dakotas?) and it's all white below. When I left Dulles, it was about twenty degrees outside and it looks like most of the country (excluding the southwest) is in a similar condition. Even though I appreciate the beauty of a snow-covered landscape, I prefer to do so at a distance these days. Thirty thousand feet away seems just about right.

Home now! It's 4:30, I'm going to go for a walk to clear my head and catch up on some newspapers. It's still 70 degrees outside and the sun is about an hour from setting. Perfect for a stroll down to Caffe del Doge, an espresso or macchiato, and to relax. Bye!

The Book of Liz -- Vangie's play (Renegade Theatre Experiment)

2008-09-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

My friend Vangie is smart, creative and talented. She's a founding member of a theater company (Renegade Theatre Experiment) in San Jose, and is appearing in "The Book of Liz", a very funny play written by David & Amy Sedaris. Her opening night performance was a tour de force; here she is (still in stage makeup) accepting accolades & bouquets from her adoring fans:

We were lucky that on the opening week of her play, Pat was in town to pack up & move the contents of his (and Dawn's) apartment, and was able to attend along with me, Sarah & Joe:

fun!

Gratitude

2008-08-30T00:18:00.000-07:00

I am grateful to be alive. I am grateful for every day I spend swimming through this beautiful atmosphere, a shell-thin layer of breathable gas wrapped around our fragile little planet. I am grateful for the feeling I get when I come out of a tunnel on my motorcycle and the temperature drops ten degrees, like plunging into a cool pool of water. I am grateful for my health and my friends, my family and my career; all of which I take much too much for granted. I am grateful for love and for beauty, and for the ability to recognize them both.

I don't know who I am grateful to for these things, but gratitude is what I feel.

One day they will be gone but I will have had them and the memory will be almost as good; someday the the memory, too, will be gone; but then so will I. In the meantime I will try harder to remember this feeling.

It's official, my car is totalled

2008-07-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

My insurance company (AAA) is cutting me a check for blue book value on my car; they pressed the auto body shop to find used parts for repair but they couldn't bring the price down below total value even with that. Here's a closer look at the worst damage:

Neither AAA nor the Palo Alto police are interested in finding out anything about the white van with blacked-out windows that did this, at least not without a license plate. Can't really say I blame them too much. At least this is a non-fault payment, so my insurance rates won't go up (but I still lost $500 to the deductible, oh well).

For the past three years I've been meaning to get this bullet damage fixed:
...but now, of course, the wisdom of procrastination is made clear. And, given that the last time my car was shot before this was about twenty years ago, it looks like I have a good seventeen years before I get shot again. I'll be ready this time!

Don't park your car on Palo Alto Avenue

2008-07-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

Sometime between 8AM and 10AM this morning this happened to my car:

Of course, the good news is that nobody was hurt, but this is never a fun thing to have happen. I'm guessing even money on totaling it out...blue book is around $10K, so I think they'll fix it. I guess I'm okay with that as long as it is fixed properly.

There were a couple of guys out front of my building when it happened, but all they could say was that it was an old beater white van (maybe a Ford); nobody got a plate number. And, without that, the police aren't even interested in showing up. Same with the insurance company.

Hey, at least I'll get the bullet in the door fixed now...

Christmas potluck at Hawthorne Gardens

2007-12-19T15:58:00.000-08:00

We had a potluck dinner for the holidays at Hawthorne Gardens, and all courses were (of course) excellent. Here we are enjoying stuffed pork loin at Sarah & Joe's, and wishing everybody a merry Christmas:

A few of the lovely ladies of Hawthorne Gardens who provided for the meal (I know some guys provided too but I like this picture)...

Did somebody mention that our apartments tend to be on the small side?
Julian with his prematurely wise expression on display (it helps that I've just wiped the drool off his chin):
Merry Christmas everybody!

Sunday in Stuttgart

2007-10-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

Below is our hotel in Stuttgart - this is where we spent our last two nights. It's much bigger than our other hotels, and uniformly themed throughout with automotive and racing art (Stuttgart is the German Detroit). As you can see, the weather for our last two days was terrific --
Sunday was the Stuttgart Volksfest parade, which organized in the park before marching. Here are the Chico Bavarians milling about in preparation for the parade:
I didn't actually blow on the trumpet below...I don't think Bill would have appreciated that (he was in the bathroom & I was holding his horn, so to speak)...
Bob getting psyched for his last parade, and (he thought) his last performance of the trip.
Here are the Chico Bavarian Band marching down the street in Stuttgart, in a parade that was not quite as big a deal as the Munich parade but still pretty impressive...
...if, that is, you consider pigs to be impressive. I do, so I'm fine with it.
The march concluded at the Hofbrau tent (I think...there were so many tents and so many beers). It's another lofty and spacious affair, not quite as big as the Munich 'Spaten' tent but still big. In a surprise move, the Chico Bavarian Band were invited to play on the main stage in the tent & kicked ass! The crowd were one their feet for the band from San Francisco -
Including some of the crowd who came from San Francisco with the band...
We had reservations in two separate tents in Stuttgart; the Hofbrau tent for the performance, and the Göckelsmaier tent for dinner & beer (already arranged before we came to Germany). Jim and I snuck a couple more liters before going over to the Göckelsmaier tent; it wouldn't do to show up too sober... Here I am with Bob & Steve in the Göckelsmaier tent, after we all demolished our 1/2-chickens & another liter or two of brau...
The Stuttgart parade & festival were a blast, and (as near as I could tell) just about everybody had a good time. The non-drinkers (yes, there were a few) just watched the rest of us in amusement, and some degree of tolerance. I certainly slept well Sunday night!

Saturday in Konstanz

2007-09-30T00:05:00.001-07:00

Today we're going to visit the Oktoberfest celebration in Konstanz, and then head for Stuttgart. First thing in the morning we visited with Alex, the owner & chef of the hotel's restaurant. Here's Don, Alex, Jack & me:
Steve had been visiting friends to the north of Germany for the past few days, and returned late Thursday night. He was pretty busy and had some catching up to do on his sleep:
This is the Oktoberfest tent in Konstanz, when we arrived (before the festival began).
Here's a picture of Jan with Bob & Steve:
These are our tour guides for the trip, provided by our travel company (Kingsway), Ondrej and Jen. They have been very professional, friendly & patient, and it's been great traveling with them...
Konstanz is literally on the border with Switzerland...so much so that the border passes behind the Konstanz Oktoberfest tent. In this picture, Bob is in Germany, Steve is in Switzerland, and Erica can't make up her mind...
The Chico Bavarians played for about two hours at the fest. Here they are on stage...
Jack playing trumpet...
The cute little girl on the right in the picture below was dancing by herself but almost got trampled; Brandee rescued her and kept her safe from harm:
Here are The Internationals, a sub-set of the Chico Bavarian Band: Jan, Bob, Portor, and Steve.
Here's Carol & myself standing on the border, trying to choose between Germany & Switzerland. Actually Carol is trying to choose and I'm trying to take a picture...
The lakeside view of the Konstanz Oktoberfest tent:

After the performance was done in Konstanz (about 6PM) we piled back onto the bus and headed for Stuttgart, where we arrived about 9PM and checked into our hotel. The band marches in an Oktoberfest parade in Stuttgart tomorrow (Sunday), and on Monday we head back. My final post will probably arrive about the same time that I do...

Friday in Konstanz

2007-09-29T22:56:00.000-07:00

Friday was our first full day in Konstanz, a beautiful little city at the edge of the Bodensee, a large lake on the border with Switzerland. It's almost as far south in Germany as you can go, although most of our stops on this trip have been pretty far south.

The weather is still on the gray side, although there's no rain to speak of. Anyway, here's our hotel in Konstanz. Check out the bear on the right -The younger travelers are pretty much all worn out now...using the bus trips as a chance to catch up on sleep. Given that school is in session, most of them have brought homework to do while traveling and also are doing some writing about our trip. I'm not saying that's what keeps them awake, but it might be one of the things...
So, we started a sight-seeing tour of Konstanz in the morning and one of the sights is this fountain in the main thoroughfare. It has several emperors & kings carved on its sides, and some whimsy on the base...
Here's the whimsy...Here's a picture of Bob standing in that street
Konstanz completely escaped aerial bombardment during WWII, so most of its old structures are intact. Our tour guide said that this was because the city kept its lights on during the blackout, and was thus mistaken for its neighboring Swiss city and avoided. It means that buildings like this city hall are still intact. Here's the view from inside the courtyard,
and here's the view from the street. The painting on the face of the building is extremely elaborate and depicts key points in the town's history. By the way, from what I've been told by my family this is the general region where my mom's ancestors came from, and this is an important trading town -- it's likely some of my ancestors were at least visitors here at one time.
After lunch we traveled to the 'island' of Mainau, a garden destination with lots of plants. Well, I guess it's better than that lame description but I'm not much of a garden afficionado...one of the nicer attractions was a butterfly habitat, with thousands of exotic butterflies in a hothouse enclosure:
There are so many they land on people...This moth is about a foot in diameter, and very pretty...
Then it's back on the bus to the hotel. Here's the kids having fun in the back; this is what I saw almost every time I turned around --
At the hotel we managed to sneak into the restaurant ahead of a large party of local diners, but because it was a very small restaurant and a very large group we had a bit of a wait for our meals (which were delicious). Here's Jan, me, Jim, Tessa, Kristey, Carol, Don and Bob. Bob is getting tired...
and below is Carol & Don's son Jack, who helped out when the crowd got heavy by busing tables while Jim & Kristey's son Adam helped wash up in the kitchen. The chef/owner, Alex, was appreciative of the help. In fact, one of our party (Mike) spent the bulk of the evening waiting tables in exchange for beer (and also for the experience -- who else could say that they waited tables in a German restaurant during Oktoberfest for the fun of it?).
Tomorrow is supposed to be clear & warm, we'll see.

Later

Thursday in Austria (September 27th)

2007-09-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

Thursday we traveled from Salzburg to Konstanz, Germany via Innsbruck. It was a pretty long day on the bus; several hours with stops here and there. I'm sitting not quite in the back, which is where most of the kids on the trip are sitting (okay, Don in the white shirt there isn't a kid but he's closer to being one than to the age of some of our senior members, who are over seventy). Most of the time we all get along fine but the kids can act up a little bit. Erica likes to kick my seat, and Brandee likes to listen to her iPod so loud that everybody else can hear it (I worry for her hearing).We stopped in Innsbruck for a midday lunch and sight-seeing; the weather had improved (mostly cloudy with some scattered blue skies) and in the high 40's, maybe low 50's.

Innsbruck is very high in the Alps, about 1500 feet, surrounded by much higher peaks (the winter Olympics were held here twice, in 1964 and 1976). We spent a few hours in the city center. Here's an elaborate building, the first you see as you enter the old town from the municipal parking lot:
This is the view of the major shopping street downtown:
And its corresponding street to the right:
Innsbruck seemed to have more genuine tourist shops (i.e. schlock) than Salzburg, which had very fine clothing & accessory stores. Still, there were some upscale places. In particular, the Swarovski Crystal company, which has a factory in Austria, has a very large store here. Some of the crystal items are very pretty but it's hard to be excited enough to stay in a store like that for too long (at least for me). But speaking of excessive displays of consumption, Innsbruck is home to the 'goldenes dachl' (golden roof) seen below. The emperor Maximilian apparently enjoyed sitting under this roof and throwing scraps to the entertainers below around 1500 or so. It's still there, hard to believe but true:
There was a nice lingerie store on the avenue, as Adam found out (notice the handcuff on the mannequin's wrist; a very nice touch) -
After shopping we had lunch at (it had to happen eventually) McDonalds. The kids (Bob & Jan's as well as Jim & Kristey's; that is, Erica, Tessa, & Adam) wanted some good ol'-fashioned American comfort food. And yes, Quentin Tarantino is correct, the quarter pounder with cheese is the 'Royale'. I stuck with the classic Big Mac myself, which tasted just like (here it comes) a Big Mac. meh. I tried to get a beer with the Big Mac but they don't do that in Austria (only in Germany). sigh.

After lunch we trooped back to the bus; the weather was clearing up, and I got a few nice pictures of the mountains around Innsbruck and from the bus as we traveled. This was a long trip, about 5 hours, with a stop along the way at Rosenberger (a mega rest-stop).

Erica wasn't thrilled to be crowned Queen of Rosenberger.
Brandee wasn't thrilled either but did a better job of pretending.
As we left Innsbruck our tour guides Ondra and Jen put 'The Sound of Music' on the bus's DVD player. I don't think I had watched the whole thing through since 1965, honestly, and it was pretty fascinating to be driving through the Alps as we watched the movie. Naturally, since I tear up at any movie scene with kids in it, I was pretty much sniffling for a couple of hours ... getting old sucks sometimes!

We got in to Singen, near Konstanz, around 8PM; early enough for a few drinks in the bar before staggering off to bed. Once again I had to troubleshoot the wifi before I could use it (in Salzburg it was reception issues; in Singen it's DNS server problems). Isn't this stuff supposed to be easy?

Anyway, tomorrow is sight-seeing in Konstanz, followed by a weekend of an Oktoberfest there and a parade in Stuttgart on Sunday. Coming down to the home stretch!

Later -

Wednesday in Salzburg, Austria

2007-09-28T15:24:00.002-07:00

Tuesday night we travelled to Salzburg, and settled in at the Hotel Mercure. Wednesday we got up bright & early for a day of sight-seeing & shopping (I didn't do much shopping, but I did see some sights). Salzburg is a beautiful city, even in the fog, surrounded by hills & dotted with ancient buildings (by American standards, that is).

We started our tour of Salzburg by visiting the Mirabell Gardens, which is among other things the spot where a scene from "The Sound of Music" was filmed (this will be a common theme today). The castle in the background overlooks the entire city:
Here's the view of the gardens from the other direction, where you can see Mirabell Palace, built by the prince archbishop for his mistress in 1606 (it's been rebuilt since, last in 1818). As you can see, the weather's turned colder and wetter...
This bridge crosses the Salzach river, and separates the old town from Mirabell Palace. The water is fed by glacier & mountain runoff, and runs pretty fast & clear. Here's a more panoramic shot of the same scene without the guy blocking the view:
In the heart of downtown, this is the birthplace of Mozart (his residence in later years is across the river, back by the Mirabell Gardens). His father rented the rooms below the golden emblem on the wall; now the entire building is a museum.
We spent most of the morning wandering around the old center of Salzburg, including a stop at the 'most authentic' eating place (according to an expat American living here); a tiny hole in the wall (quite literally) called the Balkan Grill, where an old lady in a space a little larger than a phone booth makes & sells 'bosna' (spiced sausage) sandwiches. She isn't very pleasant but her sandwiches are good!

After lunch we toured the Augustiner Brewery; below a part of the group is peering into one of the brew kettles (our tour guide Oliver was a little concerned about the impact of yodeling into the kettle, which Stevey did as soon as he was close enough)...
As we left the brewery, the rain picked up again. Fortunately most of us had umbrellas -
Salzburg is up against a steep hill, which has been built directly into. There are many buildings on the cliff that butt up against it like so:
After finishing our tour & sight-seeing we walked back to the hotel and had dinner, then to bed. Tomorrow is another traveling day!

Tuesday in Germany

2007-09-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was a travel day, we didn't have any musical events (at least none planned) and were only traveling from Munich to Salzburg, via Berchtesgaden (the town near Schloss Adler, the 'Eagles Nest').

It started to rain as we were loading the luggage onto the trailer that we pull behind our bus, and the temperature was probably about 50 degrees...cooler than Monday for sure. We left Munich at 8, headed for Salzburg, Austria (only about two hours away). Along the way we stopped for coffee & to use the facilities at an 'american' themed rest stop restaurant; Route 66 & Jimmy Dean figured heavily in the motif. It was clean & convenient, both qualities which easily disqualify it as a genuine American roadside stop. The scenery at the restaurant was very pretty; we're approaching the Alps & it's becoming quite dramatic. Here's the view from the patio (ignore the goofy looking guy blocking the mountain view):
Here's a shot that doesn't really do the scenery justice, but is the best I can do --
As you can see, it's foggy & gray, but beautiful nonetheless.

We continued to Berchtesgaden, and up the mountain to Schloss Adler, the Nazi retreat of Hitler & his party leaders. Almost all remnants of the Nazi regime have been eradicated from modern Germany, but this one remains for several reasons. One is its location; it's basically a modest tearoom perched on the peak of an alpine mountain almost 7000 feet high. Another is its cost -- at the time (1938) it cost about $200 million to build, a staggering amount for the time. So it's still there, although the government takes care to ensure that it doesn't become a rallying point for any neo-nazi organizations. The building is a relatively small teahouse on the peak of a tall mountain, with a tunnel & elevator cut through hundreds of feet of solid rock to get there. All this was a 50th birthday gift for an insane dictator who was afraid of closed spaces (like elevators and tunnels) and afraid of heights. Go figure.

Anyway, we reached the parking lot nearest the schloss to find that we'd ascendend directly into those pretty clouds you saw earlier (and as we all know, clouds up close are just fog):
so there wasn't likely to be much of a view today. Still, we entered the tunnel, where the Internationals (as they have 3 times in the past) struck up an impromptu bit of guerilla polka right there:
The other tourists, both coming and going, were certainly startled to see a Bavarian music quartet playing in the approach to Hitler's private aerie...which, in the picture below, should have an amazing view of the surrounding countryside but instead has an amazing view of the clouds:
Inside the aerie, there are several rooms (no bedrooms; it was never occupied at night), one of which has a large fireplace with an Italian marble face. The marble was chipped away (with shovels, chisels & gunshots) for souvenirs by the American GI's who first entered:
You may need to look closeup to see the remaining marks on the marble. I have a hard time imagining what it was like, to fight your way across Europe shooting & being shot at, living on the ground, eating cold rations and then finding yourself in this elevator:
which is polished brass, rather than the gold it looks like (and the first GI's thought that it was), and is propelled up the hundreds of feet of shaft by a submarine engine. Here's what the elevator looks like on the inside:
which was where, as we went down, Bob & Steve performed another impromptu little performance. More tourists' mouths were agape as we exited the elevator at the base with accordion & tuba swingin'.

After the visit to the Schloss we went down to the nearest town, Berchtesgaden, a very picturesque village. We found a little tavern for lunch (sausage & beer, naturally). Here's Bob, Jan, Adam, Tessa, Erica, Brandee, Kristey & Jim waiting impatiently for food -

From the platz in the town, the hillsides around look like this:
I'd like to visit again, and in the winter to see the snow (I'm certain there would be QUITE a lot).

Here's the obligatory fountain in the platz, with Bob & Jim in front -
After leaving Berchtesgaden we continued on to Vienna and Salzburg, where we arrived around 6PM at the Hotel Mercure (see the sidebar on my blog page for links to the website & map) and wandered out to dinner at an Italian restaurant operated by what I took to be Turkish muslims. The pizza was great and the beer was, well, Austrian beer. Good, that is. Then to bed!

Later --

p.s. I've added more photos to my google photos page.

Oktoberfest Monday Pictures

2007-09-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

Finally solved my picture problems, here's some photos from Munich on Monday.

This is Marienplatz, or Mary's Plaza (for the Virgin Mary). There's a large church and statue, but mostly the platz is shopping & dining:
This is the gold-plated statue of Mary in Marientplatz. If you click the picture (like all of the pictures in the blog) you can zoom in and get more detail.
Here's the church; it has a famous animated clock ("glockenspiel") but it's under repair right now...
This is the pedestrian walkway connecting Marienplatz to Karlsplatz (not Ersatzplatz):
Here's the Chico Bavarian Band playing in the platz, they got a good crowd (including a reporter from Australia filming some local color). People had trouble believing they were from the US.

The guys walking around in their band costumes attracted some attention, but again everybody assumed they were Bavarian. The kids posing with them here were from Frankfurt...
Here's the Munich Hofbrauhaus:Here are Brandee & Tessa, two of the girls traveling with the band in their dirndls. Dirndl's? Dirndles?

This is the stage in the Hofbrauhaus Munich with the entertainment:Here's Erica & Andrew standing on their chairs doing the chicken dance (did you ever wonder where it came from? Now you know!)
Bob is having fun...This was the Maggiora's last night with everybody together; on Tuesday Andrew went back to San Diego State, and Steve went off to party for a few days with a younger crowd...

Monday in Munich

2007-09-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

I'm having computer problems and all my Monday pictures are currently inaccessible to me. I think I'll be able to get them, eventually, but not at the moment. Specifically Windows Vista has stopped recognizing my SDHC PCMCIA card adapter and until I either get another adapter, or use a Windows XP computer I can't get the pictures off the card. I'm getting ready to heave the whole mess of electronics out the window...

Anyway, Monday was a very relaxed day in Munich. Most of us slept in a little (considering all the drinking we'd done the day before that makes perfect sense). I ended up heading to Marienplatz in Munich for some shopping & lunch, and then met the band when they came to Karlsplatz for an afternoon performance in the platz. (Marienplatz and Karlsplatz are the anchors of a traffic-free pedestrian only shopping zone; sort of what Santana Row wants to look like...I think I'll refer to it from now on as Ersatzplatz). Anyway, the Chico Bavarians did a kick-ass performance; I was hanging back & talking to some of the onlookers -- everybody was shocked to discover the Bavarians were actually from California (in truth, there is one member of the band who comes from Munich and is actually Bavarian. But just one).

After the concert, I ended up at the Augustiner with Bob & Andrew, where we had a bit to eat and a bit to drink. This was followed by more shopping and dinner at the Hofbrau Haus, an apparently venerable (400 year old) Bavarian dining hall with a genuine German entertainment program, including 'clap dancing' (NO, not 'lap dancing') and some wood chopping & sawing. The hall is enormous and entirely filled with tourists, almost all from outside of Germany. I know this because at one point in the show they march flags of various countries across the stage in accompaniment to some patriotically appropriate music, and each flag drew enthusiastic applause from a different part of the audience. We were sitting between a table full of Australians and one of Japanese...everybody seemed to get boisterous as the evening wore on, but the South Africans were in a real party mood!

After the dinner we wandered about Munich a bit more, had some ice cream, and then took the u-bahn back to the hotel.

The weather was beautiful, as opposed to today's rain (but more about that later). It was also Andrew's last day with the group, he needs to head back to school (SDSU), and his brother Steve split off from us to visit some US friends in Germany for a few days -- we'll see him again on Thursday.

Our visit to Munich is over now, and I'm sad to see it end. It's a beautiful city and we had a great time. All told I probably drank about...7 liters of beer? 8? Yikes.

Photos will come when I can get them, meanwhile y'all be good.

Oktoberfest Parade & Fest in Munich, Sunday

2007-09-24T02:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, I drank a lot of beer yesterday...let's see, 4 liters is about 135 ounces, so say the equivalent of about 11 bottles. But it was only 4 glasses....4 really big glasses. However, I feel fine today -- maybe German beer doesn't have the same side effects!

Here's a video greeting:

If you want to see all 197 pictures that I took yesterday you should go here:

Oktoberfest: 2007-09-23

Otherwise I'll try to highlight below...

The morning began at 7:00, with a quick breakfast & bus trip to the staging area for the parade. Can you guess from the picture below who's marching and who's not?

The Chico Bavarians were staged about 1/3 of the way back from the front, and were lining up with a collection of other participants. Here's the Paulaner wagon horses getting frisky with each other:

Finally about 9:30 the parade started; here's the Bavarians marching up Maximillianstrasse:

Our plan (Jan's plan really) was to run ahead of the Bavarians as they marched across Munich, from east to west, darting to subway stations and coming up ahead of them. After studying the route we figured we could catch them at Maximillianstrasse, jump into the Lehel U-bahn, come up in Odeonplatz & see them coming and going around the main stand, drop down again at Odeonplatz and come up at Karlsplatz, see them go by, then catch the U-bahn to Theresienwiese where they would arrive at the festival grounds and march into the Spaten tent. Shockingly, the plan worked brilliantly! Here we are running out of the Odeonsplatz station:

This is the parade in Odeonsplatz, with the Chico Bavarians far ahead (the little blue Spaten flags):

Here's the band passing by...you can see Bob in the front:

The crowds were pretty heavy; this parade is a big deal. The people around us couldn't believe that our band was from California! Here's Kristey trying for a better shot with her husband Jim's help; her son Adam's in the foreground:

This is just a sample of the crowd along the entire parade route...

Here come the Bavarians again; I was hanging on the side of a building, grabbing a rain gutter & shooting with one hand to get above the crowd. Fortunately I hadn't been drinking yet & got a few good shots...

This is the band passing through Karlsplatz:

When Bob told us to meet them at the Spaten tent, I envisioned a small affair, sort of like you'd set up for an outdoor wedding or something. Instead, this is the Spaten "tent":

After all the running around in Munich's subway system it was very nice to sit down & have a little beer...
Here's Adam, Andrew, me & Steve toasting to the parade; Adam, who is 16, clearly is too young to have a beer. In a picture, anyway...

Each of us got a voucher from Spaten for a beer & 1/2 chicken. Here's Erica with her chicken (which was, in fact, very good despite her approach to eating it):

The beermaiden below is carrying six liters in one hand; normally they carry 12 (6 in each hand). That's what...(carry the 1...) 400 ounces of beer? Yikes!

Here we've started the serious part of the festival; Steve, Steven, Andrew, Jim & Bob are toasting to something or other. The size of the feather in the cap is proportional to some anatomical feature; I'm not sure what...

I took a lot more pictures after this one but for some reason they weren't very well composed. I also have some videos that I'll upload to YouTube & post later.

Cheers!

Oktoberfest pictures online

2007-09-22T16:19:00.002-07:00

You can look at all my pictures (even the bad ones) here:

Oktoberfest 2007

Oktoberfest Saturday

2007-09-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Today was our first full day in Germany, and also the opening of the 174th official Oktoberfest in Munchen.

We began the day (after breakfast, of course) with a sightseeing bus tour of Munich. Here's a couple of shots...

This is our hotel in Munich, the 'Munich Hotel':
It's a nice place, clean and efficient. The food is good and it's in a great location.

This is our coach, a double-decker. When we're all on board, there are only a few open seats:
Here's Steve clowning around on the grounds of the summer palace:
And me, not clowning around:
This is the East Gate to the city, in the location of the old (now gone) city walls:
I don't remember what this street was, but it looked pretty. More to the point, it illustrates the beautiful weather; it's mid-70's and clear with no humidity, very ideal weather.
This is the platz where the Oktoberfest parade in Munich will begin tomorrow morning. The Chico Bavarian Band will be the 15th in line; very near the front. It should be ideal weather for a parade...This is Jan Maggiora (center), her sister-in-law Kristey and her niece Tessa getting back on the bus:After our bus tour we traveled to Wolfratshausen, a small town south of Munich where the Internationals have friends who run an italian restaurant ("Il Broschetto"). We had a great lunch, and the guys played a few tunes:
Here's a quick clip of Bob on the accordion:

After lunch in Wolfsratshausen, we came back to Munich for some wandering & sight-seeing in Marienplatz; a couple of beers may have been drunk as well...

Now I'm tired & it's time to go to bed. Later...

Oktoberfest 2007

2007-09-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

This year was the first in a long time that I haven't chaperoned a Gunn High School choir trip -- for some reason, I just wasn't eager to go on a sea cruise (go figure). What to do instead? Fortunately for my chronic inability to plan ahead, an opportunity presented itself when my friend Bob Maggiora invited me along for his band's tour of Germany during Oktoberfest. "The Internationals", combined with the "Chico Bavarians", are touring for the festival season and performing at several cities. A perfect oppportunity -- a place I've never visited, live music, and beer. What could be better?

I'm writing this onboard Lufthansa flight 458 from San Francisco to Munich, leaving at 10:00PM and arriving at 6:00PM on the 21st; there are about 60 people total travelling in the group of which about 30 are performing members of the band. The rest are family & friends, polka groupies if you will. Here's a picture of about 1/2 the group at checkin:While I've met a few of the other band members, the only people I really know are Bob & Jan Maggiora, and their kids Steve, Andrew & Erica. Bob & I have travelled together on several choir trips (Australia, New York, Vancouver, Italy) and Jan came along on the Vancouver & Italy trips as well, not to mention that I've known Steve since he was a freshman at Gunn, and chaperoned him on 4 trips in high school. So this trip is a mix of the known & the unknown.

Anyway, the flight was fine although a little bumpy. Serving dinner was delayed about an hour because of turbulence; still, it was pretty good (chicken with rice). International travel is still lots better than domestic. We arrived at the Munich airport at 5:40 (about 20 minutes early) and were at the hotel by 7:00 or so.We're staying at the Munchen Hotel in Munich (Munchen, duh) and I am in room 144. If anybody needs to reach me it's at +49(89)620 39-0. I have no cell phone on this trip but I will be checking email.

After checking in we went to a restaurant nearby for dinner (all 60+ of us). Here's me with Steve, Andrew & their cousin:And here's a picture of the whole crew at the restaurant (the "Schinkenpeter")I'm really pooped and need to go to bed -- tomorrow we do some sightseeing, and the band may play a little music, but the big event this weekend will be the Oktoberfest parade on Sunday.

Gute Nacht und schöne Träume (as it says on the wrapper of the mint left on my pillow).

Sarah & Joe's Wedding

2007-09-19T13:32:00.001-07:00

So Sarah & Joe got married last weekend, at a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Corvallis, Oregon. The wedding & reception were at a pretty big bed & breakfast location not too far from the U of O Beaver's football stadium -- in fact there was a game during the wedding (against the Idaho Bengals). Both team's colors are orange & black, which made it difficult to tell the die-hard Oregon fans from the die-hard Idaho fans, although I don't think there were really that many Idaho fans present...but the Beaver rooters sure made up for it. Corvallis is a seriously dedicated college town.

Anyway, Sarah & Joe. Representing the California branch of the wedding guests were myself, Pat & Dawn, Vangie, & Jason (or "Jay"). Everybody except me drove up to Oregon on Thursday night, arriving Friday afternoon; I flew up on Friday to Portland and drove down (about 90 miles) from there. We ended up arriving at the hotel at almost the same time anyway. Jay & I shared a room adjoining Pat, Dawn & Vangie; mostly when we were awake & in the hotel (which wasn't much) we were drinking or playing cards (probably should read "drinking and playing cards").

Friday night Sarah's mom hosted a picnic dinner after the rehearsal, and most of the wedding guests were invited. Joe cooked, so we were treated to perfectly grilled tri-tip, chicken, and ribs, along with potato & macaroni salad and other unimportant non-meat items of excellent quality but minimal interest (to me, at any rate). We got a chance to meet some of Sarah & Joe's family and friends; mostly those who we hadn't already met in California, and to catch up with the ones we had met before. After the dinner (and a brief game of "3 to 13" in the hotel room) the guys went out for some poker playing; appropriately enough, Joe won the pot. Good job Joe!

Saturday we slept in a little bit; it was oh, 9:30 or so by the time we were up & around, and clean enough to go to the lobby for the breakfast buffet. From there it was just a matter of finding something to keep us occupied until 4PM (or really, until 2PM when we needed to start primping). What to do? Wine tasting! Turns out the Willamette Valley (pronounced "will AM et"; most definitely NOT pronounced "will uhm ET", as I learned) is the hub of an exploding viticultural region. There were two wineries within about 20 minutes of our hotel so off we went. Here we are sampling the Pinot Gris at the Airly winery:

I should note here that my seemingly proprietary embrace of Vangie is purely platonic. She is an incredible sweetheart; cute, smart and talented to boot, but very much single & very much not my companion except in the friendly sense. (This disclaimer is entirely for Vangie's protection).

After the wine tasting excursion & donning of the formal wear, we headed for the wedding. Here's the Hanson Country Inn, at least from the backside garden where the wedding & reception were setup:

This is what we all looked like after we were showered, shaved, (where appropriate) and otherwise cleaned up:

Jay was really rockin' that new suit, and even though I look all grabby with Vangie again really it wasn't like that. Anyway, then came the wedding, here's Sarah & Joe exchanging vows:

They kept it simple, about a 15 minute ceremony and a nice long party afterwards. Here's Vangie & Dawn dancing (there was a DJ with some impressively big speakers, and since the entire B &B was booked for the wedding we didn't have to worry about noise at all):

The wedding cake was a delicious thing with 4 flavors (a different one in each tier). I only tried the chocolate & champagne flavors but they were delicious!
Finally the time came for the bride & groom to leave, showered in bird seed:after which we walked back to our hotel (see, we were safe, no drinking & driving) and rewarded our cleverness with more drinks, followed by cards in our jammies...
The garter on my sleeve is, indeed, the bride's garter, which I didn't so much catch as sort of pick up by default ... and Vangie got the tossed bouquet, which you can also see here. We've agreed that if we each find somebody to marry within the year we'll have a double ceremony in Corvallis; it's so easy to agree to something that (at least in my case) has no chance of happening anyway....

Sunday morning we woke up, brunched & headed out -- Dawn & Pat in their car, and Vangie, Jay & I to Portland to catch a plane back. (By the way the Portland airport is a very nice place, much nicer than either San Francisco or San Jose). Sarah & Joe are now in Hawaii honeymooning but should be back Saturday (I will be in Germany by then).

Sarah has been working on this wedding for many months, and it came off very nicely (at least from what I could tell; I don't know what last-minute panics may have occurred). We California attendees had a great time and were surprisingly still friendly after a full weekend jammed in together.

Thanks Sarah & Joe, and congratulations!

Palo Alto Twilight Concerts

2007-06-20T22:56:00.000-07:00

One of the nice things about Palo Alto is the summer Twilight Concert series, which are staged in parks around the city from June to August. It's been going on for about five years or so and I always enjoy sitting in the park listening to good music & picnicking with my fellow Palo Altans. This year kicked off last night at Mitchell Park with 'Native Elements', a reggae band; they were really great!

My friends Dave & Angie like to bring their kids to the twilight concerts -- here's Dave & his daughter Eve, sampling the takeout sushi:
and Makenna, wanting to go out & dance:

My niece Krista has perfected the extended-arm self portrait; I'm still learning. Here's a great picture of Angie & a crappy (but sadly representative) picture of my goofy self:

I do enjoy the twilight concerts, even if work makes it hard for me to go. This year I intend to make at least half of them -- let's see if the job cooperates.

Life in Hawthorne Gardens

2007-06-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

We have a nice little apartment community here, with a lot of great people. I've been here about a year and a half now, and I've become good friends with my neighbors.

A few weeks ago we had a barbecue to celebrate the upcoming marriage of Steffen & Julia, and the upcoming parenthood of Josh & Megan. Unfortunately we also had to say goodbye to Josh & Megan who are moving back to Seattle. We'll certainly miss those guys!

Here's a picture of Megan:

and one of Josh (with me, Andrea, and Pat in the background):

Here's Julia & Steffen:

The party started around 3 or so...and ended pretty late (12? I don't really recall what time it was)...anyway, we all had a lot of fun. Here's most of the residents of Hawthorne Gardens (well, at least a lot of us):

I took lots more pictures, which can be seen here. And I want to apologize to all the neighbors who weren't at the party but might have been bothered by the noise; fortunately, we don't (too) often stay up partying that late or that loud.

I hope that Seattle is ready for Josh & Megan; I know that Palo Alto is diminished by their absence already.

Sunday in the Park

2007-05-28T06:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday we started the day early with a trip to Chinatown for a little shopping, followed by a stop at the Empire State Building. We wanted to get there early because we knew the lines would get longer later in the day. So, up we went at 8AM (the line was about 20 minutes or so; after 9AM they say it can be a couple hours on a holiday like this). Here's Krista on the observation deck overlooking the upper west side (Hudson River):

Here's me:
Here's the view of the south side of the Manhattan at 8:30AM on Memorial Day; it was very calm & peaceful...
And here's the view north. Of course, nobody is interested much in views east or west; the entire universe is centered in Manhattan Island...

Next we met up with some old friends of mine (Xander and his wife Natasha, their kids Max & Louisa) who used to live in Palo Alto and now live just off Central Park on the west side. Max is mastering his two-wheeler (fortunately he doesn't have far to fall) and when Louisa isn't copying Max she's daredeviling around like crazy on her trike.

Here's Max on his bicycle:Here's Louisa working every bit of fun out of a puddle:

We visited with Xander & Natasha at their terrific apartment for a while, then we left for a stroll across the park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Along the way we snacked...and even napped a bit, it was such a perfect day...
In fact, the weather report had called for thunderstorms. In reality Sunday was the best day we had, maybe a little bit warm but clear and breezy (at least in the right spots). Here's some boaters on the lake in Central Park:Don't have any more pictures after this...after the visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art we stopped by the hotel and then went to see another play. This one was 'Spring Awakening', a sort of victorian era morality play meets green day kind of deal. Very hard to describe, but it was really good. It's got the lion's share of Tony nominations this season, so I'll be rooting for it to win.

Now we're off to the airport (we're sitting in the hotel lobby as I type) and we'll be home tonight. It's been a really fun trip! Krista, do you want to say anything?... "I don't want to go :("

There you go, short but sweet.

Later!

Snapshots from Saturday Sightseeing

2007-05-27T04:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a very busy day, we did a lot of sight-seeing and walking around. Here in no particular order (the order the pictures uploaded, actually) are a few snaps of our activities.

Here's me & Krista outside the Golden Theater where we saw Avenue Q. Again, Krista is doing the one-handed self portrait shot; no sunglasses to see the reflection in this time. Avenue Q is a great play, very very funny (for those who haven't seen it, think 'Sesame Street' meets 'Rent'). Muppet sex!, 'nuff said:
Here's the lovely Krista in Times Square 'round midnight, after our Avenue Q show (she's got the program in her hand, as you can see).
We took the 75-minute harbor tour from 42nd street, out around the Statue of Liberty & back again. Here we are on the boat: The day was intermittently hazy & clear, and on the warm side (low 80's) but in the shade still very nice. Here's a view of Manhattan from the south end, kayakers & all (from now on Krista can be an expert on the geography of Manhattan Island):
Here's the boat passing the statue; for once Krista isn't taking the picture herself -- the couple behind us on the tour boat were willing to take a badly composed & exposed picture for us. Thanks!
Here's the statue herself:

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Of course, that moving poem only applies to people whose ancestors were immigrants. If you're an immigrant now, well apparently we have no need for you and you can ignore that sentiment. Oops...social commentary. Okay I'll stop.

Here's Krista at the west entrance to Grand Central Station. We had a nice late afternoon meal at the restaurant inside, although Krista seemed to like my risotto with asparagus better than her ravioli...
We started the morning at the south end of Manhattan, in Battery Park (where we decided NOT to stand in line for two hours to catch a ferry to the Statue of Liberty). One of the recent additions to the park is the World Trade Center Sphere, which stood in World Trade Center Plaza until 9/11. Its wreckage has been placed down the street:
Please do NOT get me started about an administration that has hijacked the righteous anger our nation, allowing the perpetrator of the greatest crime of the twenty-first century off scott free while we instead used our greatest national tragedy as an opportunistic excuse to launch an ill-advised, poorly planned, unnecessary military agenda in an unrelated part of the world while Osama Bin Laden snickers at us from his cave six years later. Yeah, don't get me started on that...sorry but every time I'm at ground zero I get more and more pissed. Can't help it.

(deep breath)

We wandered up from Battery Park past Ground Zero, where the new plaza is under construction, to Wall Street (here's Krista and a bull):
And here's Krista in front of the New York Stock Exchange, that bastion of capitalism. Street security in that area now is insane; there are roadblocks & security cops everywhere...
Trinity Church is at the end of Wall Street, at Broadway. Here's a nice picture of the spire without all the huge buildings around it:
Saturday was a pretty long, eventful day; the weather was pretty good for the most part (I got a little sunburned) and we had a lot of fun. More tomorrow...

Dinner at Per Se

2007-05-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

Last night Krista & I had dinner at Per Se. Some people are familiar with it and some aren't; it's the Manhattan venture of the famous chef Thomas Keller (his restaurant 'French Laundry' in Yountville is highly renowned). The Manhattan restaurant is one of the few Michelin three-star restaurants in the USA (there are only 3 in Manhattan; French Laundry is the only current three-star restaurant in the Bay Area). Reservations are made available 2 months in advance, and the restaurant is usually booked completely for that date within a half hour or so. Suffice to say you don't walk by, look at the menu and walk on in.

Our sitting was for 5:30, which I considered reasonable in this case because I knew we'd be exhausted after a red-eye overnight flight and a day of walking around. Krista napped for an hour or so before dinner which helped her energy a bit. Here we are, all dressed up (Krista especially!) for our meal:

Well, it was quite a meal after all...two menus to choose from, the tasting of vegetables menu & the chef's tasting menu. We both went with the chef's tasting menu, although Krista went off menu (an encouraged practice here) by going for a filet rather than the lamb or the calves' brain. Go figure.

The chef's tasting menu was 9 courses, and we got some other odds & ends as well:

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CHEF'S TASTING MENU
May 25, 2007
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OYSTERS AND PEARLS
"Sabayon" of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters
and Sterling White Sturgeon Caviar

SALAD OF NEW CROP POTATOES
Marinated Young Leeks and Cipollini Onion Shoots
with Garden Mâche and Black winter Truffle Coulis
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TERRINE OF HUDSON VALLEY MOULARD DUCK FOIE GRAS
Brooks Cherries, Frisee Lettuce, Sicilian Pistachio Butter
Balsamic Reduction and Toasted Brioche
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SAUTEED FILET OF ROUGET BARBET
Green Almonds, Sunchokes, Picholine Olives
and "Sauce Piperade"
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PASTA E FAGIOLI
Butter Poached Nova Scotia Lobster
Spring Pie Beans, Orechiette, Petite Basil, Lobster Consomme
and Armando Manni "Per Me" Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2005
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"AIGUILLETTE" OF LIBERTY VALLEY PEKIN DUCK BREAST
Poached White Nectarine, Confit of Kohlrabi,
Field Mizuna and Duck Jus

HERB ROASTED "CERVELLE DE VEAU"
Wilted Bibb Letttuce, Slow Cooked Heirloom Beets
and "Sauce "Périgourdine"
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ELYSIAN FIELDS FARM'S "CARRÈ D'AGNEAU RÔTI ENTIER"
Cèpe Mushroom, Sacramento Delta Green Asparagus,
"Socca" and Lamb Sauce

PAN ROASTED SIRLOIN OF JAPANESE WAGYU
Braised Radishes, Sweet Carrots, Watercress Leaves, Spiced Peanuts
and Tamari Shoyu Vinaigrette
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BRUNET
Caponata, "Croûton de Pain de Campagne"
and Arugula Purée
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STRAWBERRY SORBET
Tellichery Pepper "Sablé Breton", Strawberry "Diamonds"
and Saporoso "Nuage"
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"ROOT BEER"
Valrhona Caraïbe Chocolate "Crémeux", Malted Mousse,
Vanilla Cream with Sassafras Root Ice Cream
and Black Chocolate Stout Gelée

"MIGNARDISES"
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All told the meal lasted about three hours, and we watched the sun go down over Central Park and the upper East side all the while. By the time we finished we were both pretty much done for the day (remember we'd basically been up, except for the plane, for a couple of days). So, no exciting Friday night out for us.

Today we did a bit more sightseeing & a river cruise; I'll post some pictures later. Right now we're getting ready to go to the theater ("Avenue Q"). Also, I've been having lots of problems with my new laptop (!&#@# Sony) and I'm having to resurrect my mailing list from an old backup file. If you don't get a message about this blog let me know and I'll add you to the list :-)

Hi from New York

2007-05-25T13:04:00.002-07:00

Well, Krista and I are in New York City for Memorial Day weekend. We left San Diego at 11PM on the red-eye for La Guardia, with a 6AM stopover in O'Hare Airport. Breakfast was served on the O'Hare to La Guardia leg, pancakes with sausages (it was actually pretty good). Normally domestic first class isn't that much better than coach, but it was nice to be able to stretch out and relax. I think we got about three hours' sleep on the trip ('airplane' sleep of course, which means not really).

We flew in to La Guardia with this view of New York (you can click for a close up):
For those who haven't been, that's the south end of Manhattan Island, where we'll be spending most of our time the next couple of days.

After getting a hotel room we went for a walk around midtown, starting with central park. Here's a pretty picture of the pond on the south side of the park. If you click you can see the monster carp lurking just below the surface....

The weather is very warm today -- mid to high 80's, and humidity probably around 75%. It's actually not too bad, if you stick to the shade.

Here's me & Krista looking at the pond (you can see her camera hand in her sunglasses, guess we'll photoshop that out later):

After walking through Central Park we meandered down Fifth Avenue, stopping in at a couple of stores -- the flagship Apple store, of course, open 24/7 and full of urban & trendy hipsters checking their emails & updating their blogs; a stop at the NBA store for Krista's friend Dustin, and a stop in H&M for some clothes for Krista (I actually had a brief nap in that one while Krista shopped; it was deja vu all over again from 2003 when I came to NY with the choir and chaperoned a group of kids shopping in the same store)...

After that we went to Rockefeller Plaza and went up to the top (70th floor), called 'Top of the Rock'. There's quite a view from up there -- here's the north side of Manhattan (that's central park in the background):

And here's the south side (you can see the Empire State Building):
Next we wandered over to Times Square :We came back to the hotel at 3:30 or so, and are about to leave for an early dinner (it's 5:20 now). Krista napped for about 45 minutes and I worked on this blog entry (I know, I know, for 45 minutes work it should have been better. Hey, I'm exhausted). I think we'll probably crash after dinner, considering how tired we both are. If I have time later I'll add something else, otherwise I'll update tomorrow sometime.

"February Fury" aftermath

2007-02-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

What do you do when you're stuck in a blizzard with your family? Well, for one, you play Scrabble:

Or, you might be inclined to play cards

However, one thing you're likely to do in our family is drink

In fact, if the circumstances warrant, you might drink a lot

You might even try to be sure that you don't run out of things to drink (it helps to have lots of snow for the bathtub)

However, the storm ends eventually, and you dig yourself out

You take a look around

You even appreciate the beauty left in the aftermath of the storm

This week's been an interesting time for me. I've spent more time in the company of my immediate family than probably any time since I left Ohio. Because my aunt Helen passed away, I've been in the company of a large number of relatives I don't normally see. Below are my cousins Julie, Steve, Charlie & Susie Metzger; I spent some time working at their farm when I was young...

Finally, here's a picture of the family at Helen's post-service dinner. Only Kathi, myself, Lori, Valerie & Elaine made it out of our family; Dick (Lori's husband) and Jack (Elaine's son) were there as well. And, of course, mom & Harry, who is her constant companion and source of strength, for which I am grateful.

I'll be travelling home tomorrow, after a full week in Delphos (my longest visit in 30 years). It's been an interesting week, for sure, and I've been reminded of the deep bond that exists in family, even among cousins (at least my cousins).

I'd like to put a little bit more here, but it's late and I need to get up early tomorrow for the drive to the airport (2 to 3 hours, depending on weather -- snow is predicted). Y'all take care, and think extra hard about your families tonight.

Helen Marie Rode, 1926-2007

2007-02-16T12:15:00.000-08:00

My mom's sister Helen passed away on Saturday February 10th at 8:50 PM. She leaves behind 3 sisters, 9 kids, 21 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, two stepgrandchildren, seven stepgreat-grandchildren, four stepgreat-great-grandchildren, and dozens of nieces and nephews. She worked hard her entire life to provide a home for her kids and their families -- Sunday dinner at the Rode house was always a big and noisy affair, and on any given day she had grandkids (or great grandkids) playing in the room she kept for them. Her kids (and grandkids) have always taken care of my mother without even being asked -- keeping her grass mowed, her snow shoveled, running errands, fixing things around the house. My gratitude to them is enormous.

Helen was a fiesty lady, make no mistake. She was hard to fool and was always quick with a comeback. On her deathbed her children asked if it was okay to have Reverend Wayne Prater pray for her (at her service) -- her reply was "I know how to pray." When Kathi and I arrived on Saturday, she was on oxygen and in pretty severe discomfort, but she smiled when she saw us. We traded jokes for a few minutes, but there was a pretty large crowd (50 or so, across five generations) in the hospital taking turns to talk to her so we couldn't talk for long. I'm extremely grateful I got a chance to say goodbye and to hold her hand for a few minutes.

One of the last things she said to her kids was "it's been a great ride, now get out of my car."

Thanks to my cousin Keisha for the picture above, taken just a couple of weeks ago. Helen will be missed by many, many people.

2007-02-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

Hi from Ohio,

This storm has been dubbed 'February Fury' by the weather channel. Varying forecasts call for anywhere from 12 to 20 inches of snow over the next 24 hours, and I'm trapped in my mom's house with 6 of my sisters, plus my mom & her boyfriend. The last time I heard a story that began that way, it ended badly (Donner party, anyone)? Fortunately we have plenty of food. The weather here is not as bad as what's going on in New York, but for the Midwest it's a pretty nasty storm.

I flew the red-eye (San Francisco to Chicago to Columbus) on Friday night to see my aunt Helen, who was hospitalized for pneumonia followed by a heart attack last week. Of all mother's sisters (8 of them), Helen and Mom are closest in age and closest as friends. Sadly Helen passed away Saturday night, but her family (and mine) took solace in the fact that she was able to speak to us all, and that her passing was relatively peaceful.

Her children (9 of them; between the Rodes and the Rosendales alone there are 17 kids -- this doesn't include any of our other 40 or so cousins) scheduled two days of viewing, with services Wednesday and burial on Thursday. Because all of my sisters but one have come to town, we're all staying here with Mom for the week. Her boyfriend Harry sure picked a bad week to let his granddaughter & her family move into his house, and for him to move in with my mom...he's getting a concentrated dose of Rosendale family dynamics, that's for sure.

Last night's viewing at the funeral home was pretty heavily attended...there were at least 200 visitors for sure, probably more. Today's hours were cut short at 5PM for the blizzard; we barely made it back across town to Mom's house (I think I frightened my sister Kathi pretty severely when I barrelled through a drift on the north side of the railroad track crossover in our Pontiac Vibe rental car). We are now all pretty much snowed in for the next day at least...pray for me.

Here's a view from Mom's backyard, looking across the canal about noon today (it's 6:30 PM now and the sun has set, but it's still snowing hard).

Here's a view from the front of the house (trailer), looking down the street. The drifts that looked a foot or so at noon are about three feet now...

Italy trip post-mortem (part 1)

2006-06-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

I really thought that I could keep 2 blogs while I was in Italy ... and maybe I could have, if I'd had better internet access. Or maybe not. So, the Gunn Choir Blog is a more or less complete narrative of the trip, and this blog suffered neglect. Regardless, I'm home now, and have slept off most of the exhaustion. So, here in no particular order are some observations & ideas.

I really do want to return to Italy for a more leisurely personal visit. Ideally I'd rent a motorcycle based out of northern Umbria or southern Tuscany (maybe around Assisi or Montecatini Terme). I don't relish the idea of navigating Roma or Firenze on 2 wheels without a driving attitude transplant (I'd need to drive Italian style), but those back roads looked terribly inviting. I don't see how I can do it for a few more years but it's on the list...especially when the road gives you views like this!

Our visit to the Vatican was personally interesting for me -- it is, after all, the Catholic mothership and all that. I haven't been to a mass in quite some time, and even then only for special occasions. Attending a mass at St. Peter's with our high school kids singing the liturgy was a little bit surreal (not even to mention that only a small minority of the kids are Catholic; probably more than half are Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or 'other') . I unconsciously kept expecting to be accosted by a nun for not genuflecting and for not kneeling at the appropriate points in the service (which I knew by rote, even though it was all in Italian). The smell of incense took me back to childhood church services; I guess it's true that smell is the most evocative sense when it comes to memories. Here's a picture of the choir at St. Peter's (actually the half that I could fit into my camera viewfinder):
The opulence of the Vatican (the galleries, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, &c, &c) didn't make it any harder to be an ex-Catholic...it's hard to reconcile the dimes that I put into the tithe envelopes as a child with the gold-plated statues & other riches on display...I know they do some good things with the money they collect but still they're pretty flashy.

As I mentioned before (I think), we had 99 kids on this trip and about 25 adults, not all chaperones. The ratio is about 6 kids per chaperone, an easily manageable number -- as long as the number are willing to be managed! Fortunately (for me) Bill gave me co-chaperone responsibilities over about 15 girls; Yen Thao (one of the moms) took care of in-room checks, and we split head count and management when we were out and about. The girls were almost all terrific and easy to watch over. However, a couple of them reminded me of Annie at their age...you can probably guess they don't fall into that 'easy to watch over' category...that's me & Yen Thao in Assisi. I'm trying to smile, Pam, honestly, but you know how much it hurts...

The concert at ss Bonifacio & Alessio Basilica was quite amazing. The church is 200 years old ('new' for Rome) although it's on a site that has had a church for almost a thousand years. The program was primarily sacred & traditional, with a spiritual (A City Called Heaven) that has a terrific solo part. Caitlin, the singer, knocks 'em dead with the tune. The concert was attended by about 100 local residents & they cheered her very enthusiastically. After the concert (about 10:00PM) we had a dinner provided by the church's hospitality committee, out in the courtyard behind the church. The view from there was simply stunning; all of Rome from above, with St. Peter's Basilica front and center. Every trip with the choir gives me a singular and wonderful memory, and I guess this evening was this trip's highlight.

Here's the choir singing 'A City Called Heaven':

Here's the view from the courtyard behind the church, pre & post sundown:

Our tour was organized by a company called Kingsway International, who arrange tours all over the world (they also did our Australia trip in '03). We had 3 buses, and therefore 3 guides. One of them, Patricia, was switched out halfway due to another commitment and Vincenzo (from Sicily) was switched in to replace her. Chloë was our group's guide, at least at first -- everything was shaken up when Patricia left & Vincenzo came in; our bus lost Chloë & gained Vincenzo. Chloë is British, but quite fluent in Italian (and, of course, very familiar with Italy). I'm afraid I developed quite a crush on her, and I hope I wasn't as embarrassing as I'm afraid I actually was...here's Chloë (on the right) with Katya, one of the kids:
I guess it's good to know that I can still get a crush, although it might be more practical if the object of my affection were in the same hemisphere and less than 2 generations removed in age. But then I might have to do something about it. I suppose there's an insight somewhere in there but I'm still too jet-lagged to examine it any further...

Now, about having 77 American teen-age girls in a hotel in a tiny Umbrian town...that was an interesting experience. Of course, almost all of the girls were terrific and well behaved, but there were some who didn't really understand that telling an Italian (or Spanish, in some cases) man what hotel you're staying in (much less the room number) isn't just idle chit-chat. Naturally he feels that he's gotten an invitation to visit, and seeing as how local society doesn't start to swing until near midnight, well, why not show up then? Fortunately for us, as we had booked the entire hotel (and more, I was actually up the street at a different place) it was pretty easy to spot intruders. But one of our more interesting evenings as chaperones was the second night in Montecatini Terme where we basically sat at the entry and turned away disappointed boy after boy. Some got quite angry...after all, it was a public hotel, was it not? As the evening settled down, our captive Juliets sat sadly in their rooms, gazing forlornly out their windows, as their erstwhile Romeos sat in a rough semi-circle around the hotel entry glaring at the barrier (we chaperones) to their goal. Somehow I don't feel terribly guilty for interfering with their fun. Here's some of our gals being friendly upon our arrival:
Unfortunately (for our girls), this was the scene once we locked 'em in:
Safer? We hoped so...

Speaking of the Hotel Goya, it's named for the famed Spanish artist Francisco Goya. I'm not sure what his connection to Montecatini Terme is, but at least copies of his art are on prominent display in the lobby:
That's 'La Maya Vestita' on top and 'La Maya Desnuda' below (copies, of course). Not pornography by any stretch but an interesting choice in lobby art. Especially with 99 high school kids in the hotel. Goya is a 3-star, which basically means no A/C and hit or miss shower pressure (not to mention small bathrooms). Now, those are things that Americans like to have when they're travelling, generally, but I didn't particularly mind because I wasn't spending a lot of time in the hotel anyway (and more to the point, I was staying up the street in the President hotel with two of the tour guides -- not Chloë, darnit) and the hotel had everything else we needed (especially, as mentioned earlier, the security of no non-Gunn HS guests). The staff were as friendly as they could be under the circumstances, especially Michaele (the night security). His poor English & my poor Italian enabled us to have conversations ranging from Bush to Indians to soccer to kids, and he also made a great espresso...

I'll wind this up now, and maybe I'll add something else later depending on time. Later...

Ciao Belli

2006-06-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

That's "Hello, Beautiful Ones" in Italian, for those of you who didn't know already :) I've just come back to the hotel from a day of sight-seeing. I'm pretty pooped, but it's been a fun day.

We started off at 6:00 (wake-up, breakfast) and were in the buses by 7:45. We have 3 buses (99 kids, 25 adults)! Today we did a LOT of walking ... started at the Colosseum, followed by trips to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain & the Catacombs. The weather is hot, but sunny & dry. All things considered it could be lots worse.

I've been sitting in the front row of the bus, and I can testify to the veracity of stereotypical Italian driving. It resembles a stampede on the african veldt...huge elephants (buses & trucks) lumbering along; lions, cheetahs & wildebeest (cars & smart cars) darting along with them, and finally the tiny flying birds & insects (scooters) constantly darting in and out among the slower moving vehicles. Seriously, today I saw a woman on a scooter, smoking a cigarette, carrying her kid in front of her and talking on a mobile phone. I kid you not. And she was probably going about 45 mph!

The Colosseum was an interesting place...it's hard to imagine the carnage & blood of its past when it's full of strolling tourists under a clear blue sky. Once upon a time it could hold 80,000 people -- that's more than most major league football colosseums! And all 80,000 were thrilled by continuous mindless entertainment meant to distract them from the clearly rotting empire they lived in -- thank God we don't have to worry about that kind of tricks anymore!

I wanted to jump into this water more than almost anything. But the police were just waiting for somebody to jump in; even a toe dipped into the fountain brought whistles & shouts...

The Pantheon is a huge place. The dome is at least 100 feet tall, with a hole at least 10 feet wide in the top to track the sun. By following the spot on the inside it's possible to know every day of the year. Of course, it only survives today because it was converted to a church; otherwise the early christians would have torn it down for raw material to build another cathedral...

It's about time for dinner (125 people , one restaurant. Should be interesting).

See you later!

Choir Trip to Rome

2006-06-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

6/21/2006, 8:30PM

Well, it's that time of year again -- the annual Gunn High School Choir Trip. This year we're going to Italy, for 4 nights in Rome and 6 nights in Montecatini Terme (in Tuscany). We've just arrived at the airport & checked in, now we're waiting for our flight. We connect via Munich to Rome, arriving 24 hours after we leave (which works out to 16 hours of travel if you take into account the time difference). Due to the colossal size of our party, we're flying in two separate groups -- the larger group, about 100 strong, left at 2:30 this afternoon and will have been relaxing in the hotel for most of the afternoon and evening when we come straggling in. Jerks. I would say that we make up for it by spending more time in Italy on the other side, but it just doesn't work out that way.

The weather today (in Palo Alto) was very hot, but I think it's only going to be hotter in Rome. They're predicting high 80's and humid for the weekend -- we'll let you know the true story when we arrive! I decided not to pack a suit jacket, only a lightweight windbreaker in case of rain.

6/22/2006, 4:10AM (California time)

After the past several hours I am now prepared to confess to any crime -- real or imaginary, past or present -- in order to escape the torture of this miserably confining seat and the squealing two-year-old two seats over. If looks could kill, this poor kid's mom would be nothing but a charred and smoking spot right now. Despite the darkness & quiet (all the plane's lights are off) his latest round of squalling brought a sudden rush of people to the bathroom.

Huh. I just discovered that this flight has WiFi access. Now I can connect to the internet in flight...among other things, I can add this to my blog right away...

2006-05-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

The weekend was pretty good. I flew to San Diego Friday night to spend the weekend at my sister's in Poway; Saturday night we went to a ball game at Petco Park (Dodgers beat the Padres 4-2, booo) and Sunday morning we went to brunch at the Hotel del Coronado. Hands down the best brunch I've ever had. The weather was great and the weekend was really relaxing.

My first blog entry.

2006-04-28T01:17:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog.

That's it.