What exactly is a progressive dinner? LBC 02/23/2016

Lin is up to her tricks again with this weeks LBC topic.

It's election season here in the U.S.A. so a progressive dinner can be many things. It can be Hillary dining with Bernie - assuming there is sufficient room on the left side of the table for them to not bash each other while they fight for the peas. Or a progressive dinner  could be blocked by the right wing until the next president is elected as certainly the current president cannot be trusted to select a proper menu - I mean rumor has it he likes Brussel sprouts. Is there anything more unAmerican??

Then there is the more traditional progressive dinner - a social occasion where we eat each course of a meal at a different person's house. So it's drinks at Lin's place - after appropriate air transport is arranged (and I hope she remembers the Glenlivet).

Next we head off to Pune for appetizers at stately Rajgopaul manor. The mind boggles at the myriad possibilities for fine vegeytarian goodies. Of course substantial air transport is  required as well.

Back to the airport and now we're off to North Carolina for the main course - a Cajun/Creole feast including a nice vegetable gumbo for Ramana and a seafood feast for the rest of us. Of course it has been a long day with many miles traveled and many calories consumed. And that is without dessert yet.

For dessert we head to California and Hayward, California where we surprise our buddy The Old Fossil - one of the original LBC members - just to see the look on his face when we show up unannounced.

So we have booked upwards of 21,000 miles, consumed 3000+ calories, not counting the Tums and we need to head home. Truth be told, I lived in Hayward for over 30m years and if anyone is willing to take me in I just might stay - LOL. Wherever I end up one thing is certain - I'm taking a nap.

Then there's the musical progressive dinner...

It's 5;O'clock Somewhere
An ode to nachos by the Doobnie Brothers
Cheeseburger in Paradise
Popsicles and Icecicles

Pets LBC 02//12/16

I have been a pet owner all of my life. Shortly after my bhirth my grandparents bught a Cocker Spaniel and Pudgie became my first,  About the time i was 5 I also had a cat - a very large male Maine Coon that I promptly named Suzie. I have no idea why but he was big and tough. He looked just like this one.  We moved to California just before my 10th birthday.

Fast forward to today - my brood includes two tuxedo cats and a Basset hound - collie mix  - Stretch, Willie and Ginger. The cats are name  after my favorite baseball players Willie McCovey (Stretch) and Willie Mays. Lynn named Ginger literally the first time she saw her come out of the pet carrier.

Cats are interesting - they let us think we are in charge and do whatever they please. They can be very affectionate but only on their terms. Dogs, on the other hand, by nature are loyal, loving and very  much attuned to the mood of their masters.

The internet is flooded with videos of soldiers returning home after long periods away and their pets joy at their return is obvious.  Dogs grieve and mourn the loss of loved ones - animal and human. They are amazing companions and great sources of comfort. This I know from experience.Dogs can also prevent loneliness - this too I know from firsthand experience. I freely admit I will  always have a dog. Doing so insures I will always have a friend.

Now there are myriad other animals that serve as pets to folks. A friend of moine in North Dakota raises pidgeons. I have known bird lovers that keep Macaws,  Cockatiels, love birds and more. Snakes are also somewhat popular but frankly I cannot imagine snuggling up to one - ditto iguanas.

Pets are family members to their owners - and I concur.  Here are mine -

Ginger

Stretch

Willie

Into the Mystic

Two years ago today at about 1:00 PM my wife Lynn died from Huntington's Disease. 

Truth be told, as painful as her loss was, the last 5-6 years of her life were miserable for her and everyone who loved her and so there was a huge sense of relief as well. Her suffering finally ended. I miss her every day and at times I'll hear a noise, look over to the couch and I swear I see her sitting with Ginger.

Thanks to the support of friends and family the future is something I look forward too.

We were together from the night we met at a New Years Eve party at Anne Amundson's house until she drew her last breath, The last time I saw her she was being zipped into a bag and wheeled out to the hearse. 



My scufflin days - such as they were - ended when we met. 

There is always someone
For each of us, they say.
And you'll be my someone
Forever and a day.

Major Life Changes - LBC 02/05/16

This week's LBC topic comes from yours truly.  Major life changes. Births, deaths, moves, successes, failures - you know - the stuff of which a life is made and lived. Usually while you are busy making other plans.  Commonly known these days as your Timeline on Facebook.

1) Birth - 1949 in Pueblo, Colorado
2) Moved to California summer of 1959
3) Graduated from high school 1967
4) Married 1972

Stuff like that. Life.  The journey. Its all about the journey and how you handle the speed bumps long the way. My speed bumps include two cross-country moves. The birth of my two kids and the subsequent births of  my five grandchildren. A move to Texas, Lynn's HD diagnosis, subsequent death and lastly a move to North Carolina. Just like that there is the skeleton of a life.



Whether you believe life is a random set of happenings, fate or directed by God matters little. It unfolds - offers challenges and in the end when your time is up the sum of your experiences is your life, The faithful see the hand of God in everything. I don't, but I also do not belittle those that do.  I'll take responsibility for my actions - good, bad and indifferent.  Embrace change. Deal with it.

Sunday In The Park With George

Sunday In The Park With George is a musical, words and music by Stephen Sondheim  inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat.  It is one of Georges Seurat's most famous works, and is an example of pointillism, a technique of neo-impressionist painting using tiny dots of various pure colors, which become blended in the viewer's eye. It was developed by Georges Seurat with the aim of producing a greater degree of luminosity and brilliance of color.

Wikipedia says Sondheim has received an Academy Award; eight Tony Awards (more than any other composer, including a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre); eight Grammy Awards; a Pulitzer Prize, the Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom. Described by Frank Rich of The New York Times as "now the greatest and perhaps best-known artist in the American musical theater." His best-known works as composer and lyricist include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods. He wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy. Clearly his resume is substantial.

I've been a fan of Broadway Musicals since the first time I heard the soundtrack to Music Man. I'm a big fan of West Side Story, Camelot, The Fantastiks, Fiddler on the Roof, Paint Your Wagon and many many more.

One thing every musical I love includes is great music. Imagine that. Some good songs, like these from other shows

That said, while I find the painting that inspired Sondheim's work very interesting and  quite beautiful I find the musical Sondheim created wholly lacking. But, I see how it would appeal to hard-core musical fans. I suppose that makes me a fan of "popular" musicals - much as I am fond of certain classical music - the popular classics. Popular that is to more common fans as opposed to hard-core fans. And I do not like opera in any way, shape or form though I do appreciate it's place in this world. And while I enjoy stage productions in general, I need a better reason (reward) for the price (risk) of a Broadway ticket these days than is offered by this weeks LBC topic.

That's it for this week. See ya next week with  anew LBC topic.

Of Pumpkins, Witches, And The Whole Nine Yards

Good 'ol Lin has come up with another fun topic for us here at the LBC.  I suspect she channeled her inner Charles Schultz. Or Charlie Brown.  Maybe a bit outta season but fitting still.

Knowing Lin I suspect she is hoping for some semi-serious commentary but Halloween is easily one of the most popular holidays in this neck of the woods.

Pumpkins.  Gotta love pumpkins. Especially the giant pumpkins grown for those seasonal contests. They taste pretty good too. I enjoy a good pumpkin latte. And the pumpkin pies. Yum. And fall. Halloween comes in the fall along with Charlie Brown's other love - baseball - in the guise of the World Series. Charlie Brown has always been a baseball fan

I was down in the dumps with him as well after that 62 series. Fortunately we - the San Francisco Giants - have more than made up for that disappointment bt winning three of the last five World Series Championships.

Now witches are a subject of a different color -  black or white.  That color references their magic - dark magic or white magic. White is the good kind - or so my magic muse Harry Dresden says. Harry is a wizard private eye in Chicago and he knows this stuff.  There's a clever article that discusses the mythology of witches - check it out if you are curious by clicking here.

Now the whole nine yards is an all ecompaassing term for everything related to the  topic. That must include kids going out trick-or-treating and collecting copious quantities of candy. I'd wager the day after Halloween - if a school day - has a significant  number of child absences for candy flu. Sadly today our society has refreshed to the point where ids are short-changed these days. When I was a kid in Pueblo, Colorado I collected large quantities of home-made treats that were superior in every way to store bought candy. There were popcorn balls, rice krispie like treats, candy and caramel apples and the like. It was great fun. Kids still have fun dressing up and collecting candy but it is simply not what it was.

Hallloween is also the time for costume parties. Adults get to dress up in cot=stumes and have some fu, The trick-or-treating in my experience  is typically replaced by s quick stroll to the bar for an adult beverage, I mean who needs all that sugar anyway?

Of course there's a tune that gets huge radio play during Halloween season - here it is done karaoke style by my late friend  RJHC - an adversary/friend from the days when I ran a sixties music board. RIP RJ -

The Hundred-Foot Journey

Helen Mirren, Indian entrepreneurial spirit, the immigration experience and food are a recipe for a fun movie experience. This thoroughly enjoyable movie takes  viewers on a journey that begins with tragedy - the destruction of a family run restaurant and the death of the mother - the chef whose magic ion the kitchen made the place successful.

The family packs up and heads off to Europe to start all over again. After a brief stop in England they end up in France where they purchase a failed restaurant that happens to be just across the street from a successful Michelin starred place run by Helen Mirren. The sub plots concern the relationships between the father - played by Om Puri and Helen Mirren and the son and Indian chef Hassan played by Manish Dayal and the sous chef at Mirrern's restaurant played  by Charlotte Le Bon. Essentially the movie is about Hassan's pursuit of his dream as it intertwines with his father's drive.



I rate this movie 4 chef knives out of five. It was thoroughly entertaining with many laughs and several tugs at the heart strings. It shows the value  strength of family and the immigrant experience bring to the table.