If you are going to the Jazz Jubilee this year, be sure to see Sister Swing and shout out my name at an inappropriate moment! Here is their schedule.

Over the course of two weeks, I visited a certain customer three times, and each time this television was in her neighbor's driveway. 

This is the front of the "girly shirt" that Sister Swing lent me to wear at some of their shows at the Jazz Jubilee. Very Vargas. 

I played for just an hour today at a very expensive wedding at Arden Hills Country Club. Even in Sacramento, some people have a lot of money! I got this nice boutonnière.

Paul Basye and I are on Joan's calendar for an exhibition in the fall. Joan's calendar is the string of papers hanging on the doorframe. 

We had a small turnout for this month's Peace Corps dinner. But the restaurant had an excellent mariachi band.

Fun with labels!

You too can have fun sticking this label everywhere. Find out how.

I just noticed yesterday that they had removed the pay phone from Espresso Metro. And I must say they did a fine job of it.

I have never heard of a high school soliciting students, but this ultra-hip billboard does just that for St. Hope Academy (which I notice is calling itself Sac High again, in a bow to tradition).

Stan showed me this bamboo in his backyard that grew about two feet in one day.

The person in the middle of this photo is Martin Short leaving the Curran Theatre after a performance of Fame Becomes Me. We saw the matinee today, and then had a delicious dinner at David's Deli across the street (which Jennifer had last eaten in with her parents many years ago.) While I was paying the check, the cashier pointed out Mr. Short leaving the theater, and I ran out the door with my VISA card in my hand and yelled across the street, "Martin! It was great! Thank you!" He yelled "Thank you" back and continued walking.
Here's a San Francisco Chronicle review that is close to what I thought of the show.
One line from the show that sticks in my mind: "I like my champagne the way I like my women --- comped by the theater."

Drummer Bob Allen and guitarist Tony Kay flank Frank Maffei of Danny and the Juniors. It turns out that the Juniors (like Bobby Rydell) are all from South Philly. I had a nice time talking to Frank about South Philly's unique parking traditions.
As he stood smoking a cigarette, he mentioned that he was going to get an angioplasty on Monday.

From a Philadelphia blog:

I don’t know if his name was really Charley, and I don’t know if he was from ‘downtown’, as people in those parts call certain areas of South Philadelphia, but he had that air of a ‘made’ man. That he double-parked his car and blocked the street identified him as someone used to doing so. Double parking is a birthright in South Philadelphia.

I took a whole bunch of pictures today of people wearing my masks, which you can see here.

I was a the River City Art Fair today and took photos from the same spot every fifteen minutes, like I'm going to do at Espresso Metro later. You can see the photos here.

Jennifer in bed.

Stan Lunetta in his basement.

A barista at Espresso Metro.

Two questions: 1)What kind of act is this(musical? martial arts?) 2)Is this Steven Seagal, or a guy doing a Steven Seagal tribute? 

The fine guitarist Doug Pauly behind my face. I hadn't played with Doug in about eight years. Just before the show, he reminded me not to forget my amp, which I wasn't using and had stored at the side of the stage. That prompted a discussion between me, Doug and the bass player Tom of all the things we'd left behind at jobs. Tom said he'd left a bass and a bass amp outside the Silverado Lounge in Napa and didn't realize it until he got home to Cameron Park (about a 2-hour drive, for those of you not from Sacramento.) And of course if you know me you know that I'm constantly leaving tools at tuning customers' houses. 

The Gold Country Casino in Oroville. Note the tasteful Native American motifs. 

The door to Rydell's dressing room. The conductor for the show was his drummer of 30 years, a pleasant guy who played loud. Some of the arrangements were quite old; one of them, he said, was used on the Red Skelton television show. That one looked like the Dead Sea Scrolls.
From Rydell's stage patter I learned that he is actually an Italian from South Philly (like "Rocky" and also Barbara deCerchio, my first high school girlfriend. If you're reading this, Barbara, please email.) Some of the arrangements were silly fifties-rock things, but most were hard-swinging big band and quite fun. 

This must be my week for playing with the formerly famous. On Friday I'll be playing with Danny and the Juniors, who are now seniors. Their big hit was "At the Hop." When I read their bio, I discovered they are from Philadelphia!

Today was sorting day at the library bookstore. We must have handled a couple of thousand books. This was one of my tallest piles of the day, in the fiction section.

PSC Support California

Jennifer had the second meeting of her PSC(primary sclerosing cholangitis) support group yesterday. Even though one of her most energetic members had suddenly died since the first meeting, there was an even better turnout and lots of enthusiasm. She was especially heartened by the man who said, "Before today, I never met anyone else who had PSC."
We also have a website for the group at www.pscsupportcal.com

Deneal Hooper, who hired me for her dad's party. (She doesn't look old enough to have an 80-year-old father.) She played flute for the production of Man of La Mancha that Dan conducted. 

Last night I played for an 80th birthday party. And what is a party without tiki torches? 

Torso gone

We drove by the dumpster again today and the torso was gone.

We saw this torso atop a dumpster in South Land Park. 

I'm playing a job with Bobby Rydell next Wednesday in Oroville next Wednesday. He recently turned 64.

I've been reading a lot about quantum mechanics lately and I wrote a couple of musical snippets about it: 1. Every Particle 2. The Curvature of Space-Time

A koi pond. The screen is to keep out raccoons.

My first customer today gave me green tea, strawberries, and bananas. 

Coke Blak --- if you love chocolate phosphates, but absolutely can't get one anywhere. 

This RV has a map of all the places it's been. Also, a bumper sticker: "God Bless America, Even if It's Illegal." That sounds like an argument waiting to happen. 

This lovely fountain is part of a memorial to the recovery of the synagogue next door from a firebombing several years ago. I do wish, though, they didn't call it a "site-specific installation."

Leslie McFadden's latte has a :):) on it.

The tiny dot in the upper left hand corner is a well-hidden security camera.