A lovely place to give blood

I gave blood at a different Bloodsource branch today. It used to be an O'Brien paint store, and features a multi-color sculpture that the store put up and is now a civic landmark.

Rachel reading fortune cookies as Kate

Pete's caricatures

Here's a great self-portrait by our nephew Peter. To see more, click here.

They really do put two soups in one bowl...

...at California Pizza Kitchen. Howard.

Oscar-winning card

Rachel is visiting for a few days and she and Pat Burns (our gay son!) have been doing Katherine Hepburn as channelled by Cate Blanchett in The Aviator. After a while, every sentence ends with "...Howard [Hughes]". It made me think of a new way to enjoy fortune cookies: read the fortune as Blanchett/Hepburn, adding "...Howard." at the end.

"That should be a website!" said Pat.

George Bruno at Henschel Park

I played with George Bruno at Henschel Park in front of 1,000 people! The wind kept blowing our music around but it was a lot of fun. The great Melissa Collard sang and John Doolittle played sax. "It's not a show unless Doolittle plays."

Tuning a rich man's piano

This is not my wife's car

She is not a vegan.

Stan Lunetta sculpture

Go to Miller Park and look at it before someone knocks it over!

Panorama of Stan's basement

Some of Stan's many drums in his basement.

Today I tuned a piano that I last tuned 20 years ago.

I was 31 then; now their son is 30. Almost no one had a cell phone then; now I'm running my tuning software on my cell phone.

More proof that we are in the end times

Unexplained hair on the sidewalk. (Look it up. )

Another crushing disappointment

I've been looking all my life for the #1 buffet. But today I learned that there is NO #1 Buffet.

Green concert

On Sundays they have free concerts in front of the OSF theatres. They used to be Elizabethan, but now they are everything. This band played blues. We cheered hard for the piano solos.

Birds in wreath, continued

they laid eggs!

Lithia water

Ashland has long been famous for its Lithia water, which contains magnesium sulfate. It has a salty, hard-boiled egg taste that some find revolting. But it may be good for your sore muscles. You can drink it directly from these fountains in the tiny town square.

Food camp

This is an illustration for a piece in the News & Review about food-related summer camps. I love hand-drawn maps. When I was in high school I made a map of Middle-Earth for Tim Cornell. The last time I visited his house he still had it on the wall though the ink had faded to brown.

While I was drawing this I was listening to a podcast where Elvis Mitchell was interviewing the director of Land of the Lost, and now as often happens I think of that when I look at the picture.

Another road trip

It took us a little over five hours to drive to Ashland for the Shakespeare Festival. It seems that most of our lives is just off of I-5. Driving north is much more pleasant than south; Mount Shasta was particularly beautiful covered with ice and the top lost in the clouds. Along the way we stopped at In-N-Out Burger as we often do on long drives. We saw the sign on the freeway but when we got off we weren't sure exactly where it was. We never would have found it except for the GPS and its little British woman's voice. Jennifer has often been annoyed at her but now was grateful.

In the picture you can see a young woman slicing potatoes in a scary machine. We had just been talking about how Rahm Emanuel lost a finger working at an Arby's; if he had been using this potato machine he might have lost his whole hand.

That night we met the Crawfords in an Italian restaurant and then saw Henry VIII at the Elizabethan theatre. It rained; fortunately, we were under the balcony. I felt really sorry for the actors getting cold and wet. And not a very good play, either!

Pictures from Ashland

Determined bird

Last year, you may remember, a bird built a nest atop our front door's holiday wreath and even laid three eggs, which never hatched. This year, another nest appeared. We decided to discourage the bird by taking the nest out (I put it inside the orange tree, hoping a bird would use it there). A day later, the bird had built another nest in the same spot (shown above).

Every amplifier known to man

We're getting a Trader Joe's a mile from our house!!

I heard it from Mindy at Espresso Metro. And you can take that to the bank.

The definition of balance

A piece of art at a recording studio

The foundation of a good music collection

Dion, Brightman, Streisand, and Nora Jones.

Erik mentioned in the Bee today

Two great postcards

On the left: the Sacramento French Film Festival

on the right: meshuggachic.com

Jon's trip to Europe

My brother Jon recently went to Europe with his French girlfriend (see above). You can see all his photos here.

Saw UP tonight

Another masterpiece from Pixar. Among other things, this is the first cartoon I've ever seen where the dogs act like real dogs.

Optional ending

This arrangement has an optional last two bars "for pros only."

My true love

Joan, the manager of Espresso Metro, was cleaning out her closet and gave me a choice of a Pep Boys or an E.M. T-shirt. Easy choice!

Night at the art museum

Last night we went to see Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. The most fun, for me, was seeing famous artworks come to life, like "The Thinker," above. The actors also briefly go inside the famous Eisenstadt photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square. Also featured: a Jeff Koons shiny balloon animal, a Lichtenstein woman, a Jackson Pollack, "American Gothic," "Nighthawks at the Diner," and others.

More pictures from the Sugar Mill

2009-05-30 Wedding at the Sugar Mill, Clarksburg, CA

While driving down the delta road to Clarksburg, I often noticed the old sugar mill and wondered what was going to happen to this amazing old factory building. Someone turned it into a winery, where I played a wedding on Saturday night. I've often thought that the Delta could turn into a food destination like Napa County, and perhaps this is one of the early signs.

George Bruno at the Elks

I played at the Elks (right around the corner) with George Bruno today. John Doolittle was playing saxophone. And as I always say, "It's not a show unless Doolittle is playing it." He told me a hilarious story about a trial he was on the jury of. The defendant's alibi? That they were fishing all day. I told Doolittle that if I ever need an alibi, it will be that I was fishing with him all day.

Rachel at the wedding

Rachel Songer listening to a song on her iPod before the set.

How to draw a fist #37

Van near Sacramento City College

Sixteen miles to the gallon

Today I took my Prius into the Toyota dealer for its 60k service. They had to keep it overnight so they loaned me this Highlander.

A really big Chinese mask

I can't promise this will be the last TOMMY picture

...there are so many good ones on Facebook!

We're a sensation, cont.

More TOMMY photos

TOMMY at the Crest Theatre 5/25/09

We're a sensation

Tommy rehearsal in Davis. Many people commented that it was the loudest rehearsal they've ever attended. Pete Townsend would be proud.

A painting in a customer's house

Found inside a piano

A racy painting

Paul Basye is holding up a racy manga-inspired image painted by one of his student/clients.

Too sexy for a regular exhibition — for private viewing only.

I parked here today

Award-winning bathroom

This bathroom is in a popular downtown restaurant. When you go to the sink, it looks like there is a mirror behind it. In fact, you are looking through clear glass at the identical sink in the women's rest room. There is even an identical paper towel dispenser behind the sink in the other room. The illusion persists even if you happen to see a person in the other room.

Two of my musical idols

Bobby Hutcherson and Mike McMullen.

A piano signed by Abbey Simon

He's really famous. Google him.

Band in a record store

Nothing says "bachelor apartment"...

...like a motorcycle in the living room.

Bug on the nose

At the Cafe Morocco, I saw this photo on the wall and thought, "How weird. A photo of a girl with a bug on her nose." Then I notice that it was a real bug caught under the glass. 

Michael Nelson band at the Fox & Goose!

Michael Nelson band at the Fox & Goose 5-14-09

A mysterious landscape

Six-foot dandelions

Next to my customer's house today was a foreclosed house. Someone should come mow the lawn.