Cherry Bomb

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts performed on the Main Stage of the Stockton Asparagus Festival this evening. And they did not disappoint. Jett is the same rebellious icon that we know and love from back-in-the-day. I really enjoyed the show and the audience as well. The old folks showed that they can still get it on. It only took a song or two to get the group motivated to dance. It took practically no time at all to hear their voices singing to the lyrics of Cherry Bomb. Remember - "Can't stay at home, can't stay in school. Old folks say, you poor little fool. Down the street, I'm the girl next door, I'm the fox you been waitin for." How can you help but sing along to those lyrics?? Needless to say, Joan wowed them all - young and old alike. I had a great time at the concert and even though I didn't have the best position, in relation to the stage, I still managed to snap a few good shots using my Nikon and my Sony camera. You can see the pics to the right and at the bottom of the web page. To see the video clip click on the below link. As mentioned, things were shaking pretty good at the concert, so it was difficult to keep a steady hand. So... expect to see some jiggling of the camera in a couple spots.

http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w275/jimdaviselkgrove/?action=view&current=JoanJettStocktonCA.flv

To view the You Tube video of Joan singing Cherry Bomb, use the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW_HCdU-qEY

Dave, Nancy and I ate a little of the festival food. The deep fried asparagus spears were hot and filling and the tri-tip sandwiches were yummy. There was lots of activity going on at the festival. One of Sacramento's TV stations had a booth - KCRA 3. I got a picture of Pamela Wu seated at the KCRA booth and she signed a picture card for us (see blog pictures). Pamela's midtown apartment was featured in today's Sacramento Bee. Her residence is nicely decorated and the location seems to fit her lifestyle perfectly. It was fun chatting with Pamela regarding the Bee article.

The Stockton Asparagus Festival keeps growing each year. The planners are starting to offer top notch entertainment, like Joan Jett, and that draws people from hundreds of miles away. A big plus, especially during a recessed economy, is that It only cost five bucks for seniors to attend the festival - and that includes the concert as well. Ain't life great!!! We plan to go again next year.

Devastating Night for Our Neighbor

Last night was not a typical run of the mill nocturnal occurrence for our neighborhood. I was awaken around five fifteen in the morning - to the sounds of sirens - numerous sirens. I walked to the front room to look out the window and I saw several fire trucks stopped directly in front, and to the side, of our house. Hoses were outstretched and firefighters appeared to be scurrying all around. It was somewhat surreal. I immediately woke Nancy, she was still sound asleep, and told her that we had to get out of the house. I sensed that the firetrucks were not there for a fire in our dwelling, although I couldn't be certain that there might not be a problem on the side of the house, or possibly in the back of the house - but wherever the fire was - it was nearby.

I immediately smelled smoke when I exited our front door. I was in my pajamas and I had quickly put on a light coat, as it was rather chilly outside. When I looked over at our next door neighbor's house, I could tell that the fire was in their garage and that things were already pretty much under control; but I could also tell that there had been some damage to the garage interior. I saw my neighbor(s) standing in front of their house, surveying the damage. It didn't look too bad in the dark, but later today, when I talked to our neighbor, Doug, he said that the smoke from the fire had caused extensive damage to the interior of their home. He said that they would be moving out of their home, most likely for several months. It would take that long to remedy the extensive damage caused by the smoke.

After some time had passed, and I had a chance to process what had actually happened, I realized that my neighbor was actually very lucky. If the fire had gotten into the attic, and onto the roof, they could easily have been harmed -and the house might have been a total loss. As it were, no one was injured and they should be able to restore their house to it's prior condition. Still...this kind of an event really shakes you up and reminds you just how fragile life is. They will be going through some trials and tribulations for a period of time, but I'm sure they will persevere. The cause of the fire, you ask? An extinguished cigarette butt that inadvertently got placed in their trash barrel.

Portable GPS

I started looking into getting a portable GPS a few weeks ago. I soon learned that there are a whole array of models available and it seems the number of manufacturers keeps increasing almost daily. To say the least, there are a bountiful number of good GPS devices currently available for purchase. Most all are discounted, some considerably. I finally settled on the Garmin Nuvi 260. It has text to speech and was reasonably priced. Most of the reviews that I read were favorable and the negative comments weren't deal breakers - not for our usage.

We've had it about a week now and it has come in handy on a couple of occasions. Today it was useful for finding a business that we thought we knew the location, but subsequently found out that we were off by a mile or so. The GPS put us on track and got us to our appointment on time.

Next month I plan to take the Nuvi 260 with me to Portland, Oregon. I've never been to Portland and the auto rental company that I use doesn't offer the option to rent a navigation device. The Oregon trip should provide a thorough test of it's capabilities. You can see a picture of the Garmin Nuvi 260 to the right and at the bottom of the blog page.

Recently Viewed Movies

Our Friday Night at the Movies group recently saw "Keane". The movie has, at it's core, a rather disturbing and somewhat convoluted story to depict, yet it still manages to come across as a honest, empathetic and very believable film. Several scenes are extremely intense, and they take some time to set up - it's not an action or computer generated graphics type of movie - but the process is integral to really getting to know the mindset of the lead character, so it's worth every minute. Thumbs up from the entire Friday Night at the Movies participants (a consensus is rare with this group).

If you haven't seen "There Will Be Blood", you will want to make time to do so. It won't take long to realize why it was nominated for several Academy Awards. The character portrayal of a ruthless entrepreneur is unparallelled. The film provides a whole new meaning to the term "dysfunctional family". The shrinks should have a field day with this movie. Allow for enough viewing time. It's over two and a half hours long.

Catrike - Recumbent Trike

My friend Tim, from Tampa, Florida, recently bought a Catrike. As you can see from the blog picture, it's a very cool way to travel. Add the trailer - with his three pups - and you have an ingenious way to get to the local dog park. At one point in time,Tim and I use to ride our skinny wheel bikes around our neighborhood in the West End of Louisville (yipes, it's been nearly fifty years since we partook in that endeavor) , but I don't think we ever envisioned the likes of a "Cat" becoming available for purchase. It's a far cry from the Schwinn's and J.C. Higgins (Sears) models that were offered back-in-the-day. Times have really changed. Great bike Tim! And thanks for the picture.

IMAX Theatre - Shine A Light

Scorsese did a good job of capturing the very essence of the Stones. The movie is all about the special chemistry that happens when four British chums get together to play rock and roll. Forget about their ages, it's irrelevant - this group is timeless.

The huge IMAX screen contributes significantly when viewing the Stones concert, but it would have been even more impressive in 3D - like the U2 concert. Even without using 3D glasses, it was still a lot of loud raucous fun! You even got to see the Clinton family embrace Mick and the boys - although it felt a little awkward when Bill's mom was introduced. It's just a real stretch for me to picture her as a fan of the Rolling Stones. I've really got my doubts. Ditto for Hillary. As for Bill... well that's another story.

After the concert, Nancy and Dave and I had dinner at Applebee's - where we reminisced about the good old days. You know, when it was hard to get even a little satisfaction and you actually were stigmatized for having any sympathy at all for the devil. Yeah, I'm sure you can remember those days. It was a whole different era. Fortunately for us boomers, the Stones still know how to keep it real - so that rock and roll never dies. Peace!

Damian Lewis in Keane

The movie Keane is an intense portrait of a man that teeter-totters between sanity and insanity. His predicament has its origin from an event that any viewer could empathize with - the loss of a child. Such a happening is, of course, a profoundly legitimate cause for mental suffering, but the problem with observing Keane (played by Damian Lewis) is that one never knows where truth starts - and fantasy ends. The viewer gets caught up in Keane's unsettled universe as he searches, oftentimes while in a drug induced condition, for his missing six year-old daughter. His odyssey takes him to many seedy places and his bizarre behavior sets the tone for every unpredictable encounter along the way. It is a mesmerizing film that becomes almost too real at times. Be prepared to play this film over and over in your head, after your initial viewing. The movie has that effect on its audience.

Regarding the Pictures

I mentioned that I would expound, in regards to the pictures recently posted, so here is the update:

As you can surmise from the photo - Wendy has arrived. Tom and Wendy had dinner with Nancy and me last week. Dave also joined us on our outing to the Macaroni Grill. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal and Wendy got to sample several Italian dishes. After dining, Dave (Pollock) Beales decided to create one of his famous, or is that infamous, drawings - using the supplied Macaroni Grill crayons and a paper mat. It proved to be an interesting capstone to our outing. Yes, in case you are wondering, it's a bird, of sorts, and I'm sure the true Pollock would have been amazed - or even dumbfounded - by the outcome. I plan to post the bird picture on EBay - with a reserve somewhere in the six figures. If it can work for a Pollock, why not a Beales?

The pictures from our visit to Davis, California prompted me to include a scan, from the book I bought at at Davis bookstore, showing what is probably the most famous of the Schwinn bicycles - the beautiful Black Phantom. Although I never owned a"Phantom" (my bike was a Schwinn Jaguar), I always liked the balloon tired, cruiser type bikes - over the skinny tired ones. The 1949 Black Phantom epitomizes the best attributes of a cruiser bike, to my way of thinking. You can still get a restored "Phantom" on EBay, provided you are willing to shell out between one and four thousand bucks. A little too steep, I think, for a bicycle that sold for less than a hundred dollars, back in the day.