Johanna's Baptism 6.22.08

Last Sunday, my niece Johanna was baptized at St. Brigid's Catholic Church in Pacific Beach. I promised my family and our friends and guests (particularly those from out of town) that I would post some of the pictures here. Because it's my site and I can do what I want. :)

I was raised Catholic, but after they asked my mom to pull me from CCD for "asking too many questions", let's just say I broke up with religion. Or it broke up with me. Since then, I've been to church only a handful of times, mainly for weddings, a couple funerals, and a few baptisms. I was greeted by this bumper sticker to remind me why I have no religion.
This is my god brother Johnny and his girlfriend Erika on the left, and Brie and Jasmyne on the right. I love the look of mischief.


Here's my sister, brother in law and of course, Johanna. And then the required group family shot with the new Godparents, my cousin Connie and Billy's buddy Tom.



Jasmyne is such a pretty little girl. It's hard to believe that just a few months ago, she was attacked by a pit bull and had stitches all over her nose, chin, and lips.
The picture on the right was this awesome slip and slide that these guys at Kate Sessions Park had set up. Apparently they do this frequently, because groups of people showed up with bathing suits to join in on the fun. A couple guys were going down the slope on surfboards and bodyboards which was especially cool to see.

Johanna was allowed to attack a cupcake. Or rather, it attacked her. But a couple wipees later, and she was back all smiles.


The babies got in a round of infant wrestling. Shortly after this picture, Luciana took Johanna down. We now have Johanna on weights so she'll be ready next time. And last, here's Valentina with a PB&J face.

It was a very good day. Kate Sessions has got to be one of my favoite parks in San Diego and the weather was perfect (and a nice break from the heat wave.) I think I might have to join the slip and sliders one of these days.

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Adios, Las Vegas!

We're checking out of our hotel on Wednesday and heading back to San Diego. I love my family dearly, but try spending 5 nights in a room with this many people in addition to a room with shitty air conditioning, and nerves are bound to unravel a bit. Still, it's been fun, and as I've been reminded a thousand times, we don't get to vacation as a family much anymore and "who knows how many we have left?"

I've updated a couple times, but here's how it went down. We stayed Fri, Sat, and Sunday at Main Street Station which is downtown, a block up from the Fremont Street Experience. I usually check out Fremont, and I intended to check out the Beauty Bar, but there was a hot machine at our casino bar and there was this really great bartender named Jaime from Hawaii who took care of my vodka tonics (n.f.l.) so before I knew it, it was 4 or 5 in the morning and I went back upstairs. This pattern repeated on Saturday, except the machines weren't so hot, so I discovered Jaime could make Washington Apples that would hold their own at the Ken Club, so it killed the pain of losing dinero. On Saturday, we did hit Planet Hollywood Casino (so lame) so here' s a couple of the girls at the shops.



I mentioned that Sunday I was completely chill and read all of The Gum Thief (I LOVE Douglas Coupland, by the way) while everyone else did their own thing. Did I mention the average temperature all week has been 108 degrees? Yeah, screw my carbon footprint, it is all about air conditioning and I tried to go outside as infrequently as possible.

On Monday, we came to this hotel, the Flamingo Hilton. Damn Miami Vice or whomever brought the flamingo into style in the 80s, but it is tacky city, let me tell you. I have mixed reviews about this room. The bed is incredibly comfortable and I definitely dig the 52" flat screen and the iPod docking surround stereo system. The bathroom is huge and has a separated bathtub from the shower, which is a huge upgrade from Main Street's bathroom that you can barely get around the door to close. We also had a killer view of Bellagio's dancing water fountains. Unfortunately, our A/C is retarded and though it's set at 65, won't allow the room to get below 75. Not cool. (literally.) Also, I would like to know the interior designer who "upgraded" these rooms and give him a swift kick to the head. Pink/Brown/White Patent Leather has to be the UGLIEST color scheme in the history of the world. Over each bed, the light fixture has 9, yes NINE 100w vanity lightbulbs. If I wanted my room to be as bright as a hospital room, I'd get alcohol poisoning and ACTUALLY GO TO A HOSPITAL. I unscrewed 7 of the 9 bulbs over both beds. Also, there are 4 LED chrome lights that resemble the old "I need the key on aisle 4" microphones at K-Mart. None of them work. Whwn I called guest services to inquire about the reading lights, the woman on the phone responded, "Oh, we're uninstalling them. They don't work." Genius.



We went to Caesar's for a little bit on Monday since it's across the street and Claudia wanted to eat at a deli there. I was taking nudie pics for Jake, so thought I'd post. And then there's the parrot- he's in the valet area of our casino. (more after the jump)



So then last night. I can't even believe I'm going to be this personal on this site. This was the stuff I saved for my other blog. Oh well. You jumped.

So let's just say, I made some friends. First, my dad is a "diamond club" member, meaning he has earned enough points in the many properties owned (including this hotel, Caesar's, Paris, Harrah's Rincon and a bunch more) that he gets comps. The rooms all week have been comped, thus the crowded quarters. But each of the associated properties also has a "Diamond Club" lounge that has complimentary cocktails (without having to gamble), a couple internet stations, and a free mini-buffet of hors d'ouevres. We hung out there for a little while. My dad dozed off after a restless night, I watched baseball and ended up talking to this dude from Queens who schooled me about sports betting and who basically made me want to pack my bags and move to Queens. Oh, and apparently he really, really likes bruschetta.

I only mention him, because later that night, after Caesar's, my mom and I went down to gamble. We started on one side of the casino, then moved to the bar area. I was doing ok, but she lost quickly, so she left the bar to a gaming island about 5 feet behind me. My dude from Queens was sitting a few seats away from me, so I caught myself staring. Stalker. Next to me, I had a conversation with an elderly gentle man. He had lost his friend, their wives were at their timeshare. It occurred to me that he is getting an onset of Alzheimer's as he had an entire conversation with me (Where are you from? Who are you here with? Where are you staying?, etc) and then after a few moments of silence, started the conversation from the beginning all over again. Four more times. This made me sad.

While we played, I listened to three dudes check out the very few chicks at the bar, trying to identify the "pros". Then security approached a girl who sat embarassed and in her defense, amongst themselves, the three protested her treatment. Then they proceeded to talk about finding some girls, maybe getting massages at an Asian massage parlour, blah blah. I pretty much know all of their conversation because they were literally 16 inches from me and talking loud as hell. Proof that sometimes I really am invisible. I was also listening because my mom was sitting right there, and I was ready to ask them to move. I didn't.

Eventually, my mom left back to the other side of the casino, but I was doing well, nursing my drinks while playing poker. When she finally left, I commented to one of the three, "man, you are three of the dirtiest em efs I've ever heard." "You drop an m.f. and we're the dirty ones?" He had a point. But anyway we start talking, they're here for their friend's 50th birthday, they're from Massachusetts, blah blah, and they bought me a drink when I said they had brought me bad juju. We all know I never turn down the offering of a free drink. They nicknamed me 'rabbit ears' and asked what else I'd heard. It became apparent to me that they were all talk and probably don't have the balls to get a Vegas hooker or a 'happy ending' massage, let alone a legit massage at one of the many spas. Like all bros- all talk. Their collective favorite band is Vertical Horizon and one of them filled us in on what's been happening on Days of Our Lives because he works from home. Guys who listen to VH and watch Days usually aren't the hooker-pickin-up type I would guess.

Anyway, we hung out and drank and eventually (as always) the machine sucked down my self imposed gambling allotment and we continued to drink. and drink. and drink. I was drinking Heinekens, then we started mixing in red-headed sluts. On my other side was Pat, a guy from Ireland who was really nice. Oh, and then Queens was still there, and some girls came up and there was some debate about their working status, though they were all, ahem, of the BBW variety and didn't know what a well drink was so I said definitely not working. But anyway, it was just one of those nights where everyone at the end of the bar kinda cross talks and drinks and it was a whole lot of fun. All bars should be round or oval. Like the Ken Club...everyone knows if you're with a group of people, you always want a corner so people can hear more than just the person next to them. One by one everyone left, and I was left with Rob. He told me to gamble; I said I ran out of money; he gave me $100 to play. "Play for me," he said. So I did, played a while, then hit a 4 of a kind. I gave him back his $100 and kept the $27.50 winnings. We were getting along, grabbed a beer, and went to his room. In my awesome blunt honesty, "I'll go to your room, but we're not having sex." Smooth. We went to the room and hung out until I ended up falling asleep. It was about 6 am.



Fast forward to noon, I check my phone to find 25 missed calls and 6 messages. I had my ringer off and my parents were FREAKING out. The apparently woke up at 6:30 because the room alarm went off and realized I wasn't there, then proceeded to call me. I guess they even called my house, where Daniel is staying, to see if he had heard from me. They called the casino to report me as missing. I was told it went something like this:

Dad: "Hi. My wife and my daughter were out gambling last night and my wife returned but my daughter didn't. She's missing."

Casino: "We're sorry sir, this sort of thing happens all the time. This is Vegas."

Yeah. I called them then returned to the room where they had ordered room service and gave me all those parental lectures about how worried they were and how dangerous this town can be. I suddenly felt 14. "I was fine. I made friends, fell asleep in their room. I didn't have sex, my clothes stayed on, you're not getting a grandchild in 9 months." My mom's response? "Then what was the point?" (They really want me to have a kid, even if it is the result of a one night stand in Vegas.) Anyway, all day was this weird parental boundary thing going on.

We all went to Circus Circus and went to the Mezzanine to play games and win stuffed animals for Claudia and Johanna. Pat, the Irish guy, was there, so he came and met up with me for a bit before taking off on a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon.

By the way, for anyone inexperienced in Vegas. Don't ever stay at Circus Circus. Even if it's the cheapest room- nay, even if it's free, they offer to pay your gas, give you show tickets and dinner vouchers, etc...DON'T STAY THERE. The line for hotel check in, and mind you, this is on a Tuesday, was at least 200 people deep when we arrived and was no shorter when we left nearly two hours later.

After that, we went to Ellis Island, this casino with an old school restaurant (think Red Fox Room) that caters to locals and had some damn good angus burgers before returning to the room. At that point, I finally had some time alone and uploaded about 30 CDs that I've accrued over the last month or two, checked email, etc. Tonight was uneventful. When my me time abruptly ended when everyone came back to the room, I went downstairs only to lose money I don't have in the space of 15 minutes while I watched the end of the Celtics game. Instead of dropping more money, I went to the sports book and watched the end of the Italy v. France game then came back here. Now it's 3 and I'm a little stir crazy, kinda regretting that I didn't do something more interesting for my last night in Vegas.

We're checking out at noon, getting breakfast at Ellis Island (we love it there) then heading back to San Diego. My sister and I will probably stop at some outlets on the way back. Then we're meeting up with my parents at Harrah's Rincon casino, where we're staying two nights. My dad's rationale for staying there is because it's a good stopping point so we don't have to drive all the way home. Considering its 16 miles off the freeway, I'd rather come home, but we're going to Knott's Berry Farm on Thursday. Then our little family vacation will all be over, and I'll be in hibernation until we all get together on Sunday for Johanna's christening. Yup, me in a Catholic church. awesome.

I still need to post my pics of Troy, Augustana, and Crystal Castles, but for now, I'll post Wednesday's listings and hopefully get to the rest of the week when I'm at Harrah's.

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Johanna 5.10.08

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Johanna Celebrates Her Heritage

My niece is in Vegas right now with my family, and apparently is bringing good luck all around since my dad's on a gambling roll and already hit a royal flush. My sister took some pics to share to show Johanna's other 50%. (She's officially 25% Polish, 25% Mexican, and 50% Irish). Here's a nice gummy smile for everyone...

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Johanna, 3.8.08

I'll get to all this week's pictures in a minute. I've just gotta post this one first.

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Sat Pt 1: Johanna/ Reeve Oliver @ M-Theory/ Tecolote Guitar Works/ Silverbird & Joshua Emery Blatchley @ Habitat 3.1.08

My Saturday started with my answering machine talking to me. "Tia Rose, your niece wants to see you and your sister is hungry. Pick up the phone." And I did. "OK, I'll get ready." But then I got out of the shower and was told I had to wait, because my brother in law wanted to come, too, and he needed to get ready. That was fine, though, because I needed to straighten up my neglected house.

They finally arrived and we had lunch at Ponce's which was delicious as always. Mostly, though, I was happy to spend some time with my little Monchichi.

Johanna, 8 months


After lunch, I convinced them to check out Reeve Oliver at the in-store at M-Theory, thinking it would be a little quiet affair. Not so much. Billy had to stop in his office, so he dropped us off, but we ended up watching the show mostly from outside to protect her small eardrums. It was nice to see a lot of people there mid-afternoon, and McHank was recording so I'll throw up a link when I get it.

Reeve Oliver



I was supposed to meet Dag afterward, but my sis and bro decided they wanted to go check out the rock photography at Tecolote Guitar Works, so I called Dagart to meet us at M-Theory. Since he was still in Normal Heights, we went to Tombstone Park for a little bit and he met us there instead. There was some sort of scavenger hunt going on which was cool because we briefly got to join in the fun.

From there, we caravanned to Tecolote Guitar Works, where a lot of friends had turned out to see some of MollyMoll's photos(link in my Photos section). Johanna was sleeping, so my sis and bro took off, we stuck around for a while, hanging with friends and sipping on wine until is about time to move to the next step of the night.

Tecolote Guitar Works- Emma & Daye




We picked up a bottle of wine at 7-11, then headed to Habitat House. We were the first ones there, in fact, we didn't think anyone was home, but Roy let us in and was so hospitable. If you haven't been to a show at Habitat, you are really missing out. It's a gorgeous house and you just have to experience the warmth on your own to get it. Eventually Silverbird showed up but we spent some time on the stoop just hanging out, listening to Justin strum his guitar, and even going into a sweet little version of Rocky Raccoon. Dag ran up the street to grab another bottle of wine and we went in to catch Joshua Emery Blatchley who played these amazing turn of the century instrumentals, each with an accompanying story to go with it. I'm gonna do what I can to help him play the Roots Festival this spring because though his set was short, I was truly impressed. Silverbird quickly took to playing, but we only got to stay for a few songs because our cab arrived a few minutes earlier than we expected. Good thing is they've been added to the Transfer bill this Friday at the Ken Club.

Habitat House



I've got to get ready for the Casbah now, so you'll have to wait for the rest of the night's photos of The Silent Comedy at the Hard Rock and Blitzen Trapper at the Casbah. I'll also get to my listings for the week tomorrow; there's just not enough time in the day sometimes. I thought I'd have this all taken care of when I was working the Casbah on Sunday, but the wi-fi kept going out, and last night's nap turned into a full night of undisturbed sleep, so I'm sorry. Also, happy birthday to Laura Jane, I'm sorry I missed the fish party.

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Presidents' Weekend- the rest of my weekend

Sunday was another chill day, and when my friend cancelled plans to go to the Belly Up, I lost motivation and ended up staying in (though the show at the Belly Up and The Casbah were both really good.) I figured even though I had today off from work, I needed to get back on a normal person's sleep schedule. Plus it meant that today, I got to hang out with my niece and the rest of my family. First, with lunch at El Zarape and a couple hours at Balboa Park, then dinner and hanging out with my parents at my sister's house. It was a lovely day and put the period on what was an excellent weekend.

I still have to post my Saturday pics, but for now, some pics of my little preciosa.

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Overdue Recap: Langhorne Slim & Silverbird @ Beauty Bar, Verso @ Ken Club, and the rest of that weekend...

It's so nice to have a free day to catch up with life, no?

A week ago Friday was a great day for me. Work was all caught up and I got to help out on a project that I can't really detail, but it incorporated local music and I was stoked to do it. I was even let off work early, and on my ride home, I was told that I would be rewarded for my efforts with a bottle of vodka. I got home when there was still a bit of daylight, straightened up my house and chilled out until Andrea and Amy showed up. We decided to have some pre-show cocktails so we called a cab who showed up relatively quickly. We were buzzing with energy and a couple drinks.

When we arrived, we met up with the guys in Langhorne Slim. Andrea had brought them some hats from The Village Hat Shop to try out, and they chose a couple. We ordered some more drinks and chilled until the bands started.

Silverbird started off the show. Justin was sporting a new haircut, and this variation of the band only had Justin's guitars, Robin's keys, and the relatively new bassist (sorry, forgot his name). Since they've been without a regular drummer, Justin used a tambourine with a foot pedal to accompany the music. They sounded really great- Justin's heartfelt voice kinda crushes me a little everytime I hear it- so I'm definitely looking forward to them getting in the studio and laying down an album.





I spend a lot of time going to shows, but it's rare for me to actively have a 'ladies night', so we kept well lubed. I finally met Sarah, the new Beauty Bar manager, and we got to hang out a bit and talk about what she's doing with the place, and I think she's got some good things planned. Dustin is helping out with the booking there, too, which I think is a good injection of new blood. Sarah also hooked me up with a couple poker chips, so our good night was propelled to a great one. On top of all that, Abraham was there and said he'd drive us home. Night set, we went back on the patio to watch Langhorne Slim and the War Eagles.

I love this band, and I'm glad that they've got a full length because listening to an EP can only hold you over for so long. I've seen them a few times now, namely with Two Gallants and when they toured with Rocky Votolato, and the energy they have on stage is great. Even with Slim jumpin all over the stage, the other musicians hold their own and really, Paul just kills on that stand up bass.







After the set, we briefly hung out, and Andrea gave one of the hats she brought to Brandon, so here's him reluctantly modeling his new hat. (Check out the Village Hat Shop Online.)



After the show, we headed back to Kensington. I guess that is the point in the night where I had that moment of clarity...like perhaps I should've had dinner before all those cocktails. Oops. We walked over to the Ken and caught the end of The Verso's set. I'll have to check them out again when I'm not all googly eyed.





Afterward, we all came back to my house, and I quickly made my way into bed while my friends entertained themselves. The next morning, they were all up, shiny and bright after crashing in my living room, and convinced me that we should get some lunch. We headed to Bluefoot for some beer while our stuffed pizza was cooking at Lefty's. I'd only ever had fries from Lefty's before and let me tell ya, call me converted. They have some of the best pizza sauce I've ever tasted and it was delicious food to cure the h.o. The Upas Street football crew rolled in and we hung out for a bit, but after a couple hours, it was nap o'clock so I suppose you could say my Friday night finally ended about 3 pm Saturday.

Later that night, I rallied and went to the Ken Club for Swim Party, The Roman Spring, and the Focus Group. It was a great show for all three bands, though I didn't take pictures (you can read Natalie's review here). Late in the night, my friend Sara came to hang out, so we hopped between the band room and the bar, catching up with one another since it had been ages since we'd hung out. Of course, convenience is key, and after the bar, some friends came over. My neighbor was gone so we blasted MgmT and Sub Society and Prince and a whole bunch of other music until it was time for everyone to head home around 4 or 5 in the morning.

Last thing for me for last weekend was SuperBowl Sunday which was really chill with my family at my sister's house in PB. The game was great, but of course, I was obsessed with my niece Johanna. Talent scouts, my e-mail is in the about me section of this page :)

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New Years Eve 2007/ New Years Day 2008

By sunrise, everyone was gone and I spent the day preparing for New Year's Eve, stocking up on some beer and some mixers, cleaning, and just relaxing. Which was just what I needed before the big night ahead.

When it was finally time to leave the house, I saw Matt through the window at Bleu Boheme, so I had to say hi and have one of his delicious vodka mojitos, which was the perfect drink to start my night. Poor Matt, however, was slammed while simultaneously being hit on by every guy at the bar, so I finished my drink and promised to come by again later.

After the drink, it was Ken Club time. The bar was packed because the band side wasn't open yet, but I made my way over there after procuring a drink, because Brett wanted me to take pics of the room. I've been saying how Bodie has been fixing up the bar lately. He started on the bar side with the floors and replacing the vinyl along the bar, a couple weeks ago he had new booths put in the band room, and he's working on the floors at the moment, but I was so stunned at how pretty the room looked since over the prior week, he'd painted it a warm shade of red. I got to taking pics right away.

The bar was still a little too crowded, so a friend and I decided to go back to Bleu Boheme for another drink there. I guess the time was passing faster than I thought. I didn't realize we'd take so long, so I'm sorry we ended up missing Get Back Loretta entirely. Vitro had canceled because the drummer was stuck in a midwest snowstorm, so we arrived in time to see Microphone Mike who pretty much kicks ass on stage, schtick or not.






I didn't bust out the camera too much during the show, but there was a lovely midnight toast, then Transfer hit the stage and brought it down. I thought it was funny how many people were racing to be somewhere else after midnight, like there was this frenzy to get somewhere better. I, on the other hand, was exactly where I wanted to be.

Transfer played pretty much right up until last call, and afterward the band and a bunch of friends came over to my cozy apartment where we drank for a bit. Then everyone headed off to Black Box, but I opted to stay home. Todd came over from the bar as everyone was leaving and we chilled out for a bit watching tv. He had to work at the bar in the morning, so we crashed out and he was off to work a few hours later. The result of my late night was a chill out day. I woke up early and cleaned up the house a bit, then crawled right back into bed.

Later, my parents picked me up and we went to PB to hang with my sis and bro, and of course, Johanna, who was all giggles. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the end of one great year and to start off another.

Happy New Year, Party People

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Pictures- Wild Animal Park

After a late night Saturday night --some friends came over after the Sweet & Tender Hooligans show--it was nice to sleep in and chill out before my family picked me up and we headed to the Wild Animal Park. Every year, they do a Park at Dark Holiday Lights thing, and this was the last day to catch it in 2007. Of course, my camera was mainly focused on my niece, Johanna.





The entrance to the lot was packed, perhaps poor planning on our part, but it was fun and a nice way to spend the late afternoon. It was funny how everywhere you walked you heard people talking about the recent tiger attack in SF. When we realized the wait for the tour into "The Heart of Africa" was nearly two hours, we decided we would see what we could by foot. As far as the animals go, it was only exciting to see the lions enclosure, where one lion really did just look like the kind of the jungle.



As we were about to leave his area, the crowd kinda roared. The lion was stretched on his perch, then quickly jumped down and ran to where the people were looking through the glass and he began to roar. It was so loud, we thought it was one of the prerecorded boxes making the sound, but it was the lion growling, and his roar caused all of the other lions, who were in the adjacent building put away for the night, to roar.

Once the sun dropped, it became harder to see much of the animals, but we still wandered around, looking at the lights, watching some kids use sleds on an artificial snow hill, some other kids sing some Christmas songs on a karaoke machine, and various other activities in the village area of the park before we ran out of things to do and we headed back south.



It was a beautiful night in Escondido, and I made my mom stop at a little taco shop to get some of the awesome Mexican food that Escondido is known before we said our goodbyes. Any San Diegan who doesn't have a Zoological Society membership is really missing out on one of the best things San Diego has to offer.

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Johanna's First Christmas

You knew this post was coming, right? We celebrated Christmas at my mom and dad's house, and with my God-sister Claudia living back east now, our celebration was a little more muted than it has been in past years. Her absence was felt throughout the day, but we made the best of it, and I think our highlight was when we all got to talk to her on the phone.

Just shy of 5 months, Johanna is too young to know what's going on, so I presume next year will be more celebratory, mostly this year was the 5 of us passing her around and trying to get her to let out this new giggle she's developed.

We had a nice family dinner; my mom made a roast instead of turkey for the first time ever, and it was delicious. After dinner we opened presents and I got some gift cards and some pajamas and a jacket that I like a whole lot. My sister is getting so many hand me downs from friends that we didn't go too crazy spoiling Johanna, but next year will be a different story I'm sure. I'm still looking to get her some baby earplugs, however... so if anyone knows where I can buy some, let me know.

I, of course, took a lot of pictures, and my parents bought some rustic wood frames for Johanna's room, so along with some color photos, I tried the sepia setting to get some pictures for framing.

For my family, click here for the full album.








I hope everyone got to spend Christmas with loved ones, whether that is family or friends, large or small.

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Quite An Opinionated Baby

Now we just need to teach her to do hook'em horns and we're set.

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I'm In the Mood for Christmas

I just got back from the Kensington Tree Lighting ceremony. It was awesome. The Santa is one of the best I've ever seen, and Johanna made sure to give his real beard a nice solid tug. There was food- and for $2 a person, it was the steal of the century, with mac n cheese from Ken Grill, onion rings from Burger Lounge, and other goodies. There were carol singers and tons of neighborhood families out. Mayor Jerry Sanders did the tree lighting. Click the picture to see all the pictures.

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A Post For My Family: Johanna pics

Apparently some of my family who are in different parts of the country have some trouble navigating my website, so I thought I'd post the direct link to the latest pics of my niece, Johanna, from this Thanksgiving weekend. Click the picture for the rest of the photo album.

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Happy Halloween from our little Kielbasa

A few weeks ago my sister and I took a day trip to San Francisco. On the trip, she bought my niece her first halloween costume; this little hot dog suit.

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Saturday Interlude at OB Oktoberfest

Friday I did absolutely nothing productive. I caught up on aging e-mail, filtered through MySpace, caught up on Numbers and decided there was no way in hell I was going out anywhere. Sometimes those nights happen. And though I was tired by 9 pm and thought I would just crawl into bed with my freshly laundered 1000 count cotton sheets (overstock.com is amazing), somehow I found ways to eat time and found myself awake until 5:30 am Saturday morning. Fortunately I had Saturday plans or I would've just slept the weekend away.


My mom and sister called and picked me up around noonish, we retrieved my car from the Casbah (yes, how fun is that explaining to your mother why your car has been parked outside a bar for two days? And even better that I wasn't quite sure where it was?) and met my sister and our friend Nicole at Santana's in PB. Because my mom had two of her daycare kids and had her car full, Nickie and I drove seperate as we made our way to OB for Oktoberfest.

Here's Jasmyne and Jayda:






Boo, by the way. If I had known the whole thing was pretty much just a beer garden, I would've stayed in those thousand count cotton sheets hoping to hear the tip-tapping of more drizzle back in Kensington. The OB Oktoberfest was lame.


OK, maybe that's not fair. If I was a 23 year old bro or a 45 year old hippie bro, I bet it was awesome, but we were there with the kids, so we were not allowed into the garden. We were relegated to the ramp between the beer garden and Hodad's peeking into the action, and all I could do was scowl at the Sublime guys next to me while I'm holding my 10 week old niece giving them the eyes, like "I'm down with your shit but please go smoke somewhere else." And then I could only laugh inside myself as they negotiated going into the beer garden but couldn't afford the cover (I think it was like $2?) and thought if they went in then the beers must be free. (Ha!) Yeah, dude, just go back home and smoke more weed.


Anyway, we lingered because I saw T-Bone and he told me Lady Dottie was next, but instead we watched a Bratwurst eating contest, and then the long changeover for the Bavarian beer band and listened to them play a couple songs before we decided that Heinekens at my sister's house would be more fun.


Of course, I took pics of my niece who has recently discovered that she can have fun with spit bubbles, which quickly translate to drool:








After a bit at Christy's I had to get home and clean house in case there was that chance of an afterparty...or preparty...or whatever. So that was that and I was on my way. I generally felt that the OB Oktoberfest was a bust.

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German American Societies Oktoberfest

Sunday I was still feeling a bit off, but my family picked me up and we headed to the German American Societies Oktoberfest in El Cajon. Though maybe there is some debate about "the best" Oktoberfest in San Diego, to me there is no question. As long as I can remember, my family would load up and head to La Mesa to get caught in the crowd and get trampled by people carrying weathervanes (seriously, people, why the hell do you need a 5 foot tall metal weathervane with a chicken on top in San Diego?) I even think the first time I ever caught a buzz was in La Mesa, but that was back in the days when the beer was sold by the pitcher (that you got to keep) and my parents' softball teammates would pour me a beer when my parents weren't looking. And then there's the chicken dance...of course. But really, the crowds, the traffic...I just haven't had any desire to go there once we made the decision to start doing El Cajon. There, all you've got is a beer garden. And this year, we didn't even drink any beer, but the atmosphere of goofy San Diegans in chicken hats and liederhosen was still all the fun it always is.

I don't know what this song was called, but the introduction was that "this one day will be even bigger than YMCA". While that may not be true, it kills the chicken dance.

That guy in the chicken hat is the mayor of El Cajon. Imagine Jer in one of those!

And of course, this baby has been everywhere and would actually only cry when the music stopped. We stayed a couple hours but took in the good times, good music, and I got to dance with my niece. Wait...is she flipping me off?

After the fest, I chilled around home for a bit to finish up my column before heading out to the Casbah for what ended up being an amazing night. I'll get to that in a minute.

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Mama Said Knock You Out

Now I've got two nights of shows and pics to post (and not to burst your bubble, but I did NOT got to "The Fest" at the Casbah), but I'm catching up on this week's "Tell Me You Love Me" and then it's off to zzz land, but in the meantime, here was the real joy of my day.



I'm starving for stuff for my next column. If you have band news, please send it my way. And sorry about flaking on Two Gallants, I will post the winners this weekend.

btw, I'd like to dedicate the fists pumping, prepared to knock someone out, to my kind neighbor who left his alarm set while he's away for the weekend. There is nothing more awesome than an alarm buzzing starting at 5:45 a.m. on a Saturday morning until he returns home. I'm thinking about breaking into his apartment and flushing the goddamn alarm down his toilet.

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Johanna Franciszka

We live in such a funny time, don't we? The day Johanna was born, she got her first g-mail and photobucket account. She now has a bank account and got her passport pictures taken this week. The Adams Avenue Street Fair will be her first "concert" (unless I can get them to Sessions Fest). This girl is gonna have a great life.

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A Post For My Family: Johanna Pics and Lemon Festival

My relatives have finally started reading my blog (Hi, Uncle John!), so this post takes a break from music for a Johanna update. We had a BBQ at my parents' house on Saturday and our friend Nickie was down for the weekend. For the record, my dad's carne asada rocks. We ended up being there so late that I couldn't motivate to hit the town on Saturday and missed the parties at Kelly's and also at Jason's, instead opting to stay in and watch HBO on demand. (Don't waste your time watching Bee Season or Angel Rodriguez, by the way. Snoozefest.) Anyway, here's Johanna day 12.



Then on Sunday, Sara and I met up with my mom, Christy, Billy, Nickie and Johanna at Chula Vista's Lemon Festival on Third Avenue. It has been a while since I've hung out on Third Avenue, and this was my first time seeing this sign:



Being there certainly brought back a lot of memories...going to the Berlin Wall and Just Java, hanging out in junior high with Alex and Oliver and whatnot. It's weird to see so many new places...like La Bella Cafe or the bars and clubs that have weekend Banda, Ranchero, and Rock en Espanol shows.

It was a typical street fair, though my little hometown is much more influenced by the large Mexican-American population and the culture. I doubt Solana Beach street fairs feature so many booths with lucha libre masks.



Or the weird Jesus art that has always been really scary to me...


But we are a colorful people, too.



And there were DEATH DOGS! (Bacon wrapped hot dogs, as featured on the streets of Tijuana and absolutely delicious after a night of dancing at Mr. Crown's or Safari back in the day)


There were obviously a ton of lemonade stands, but to me, the aguas frescas looked better.


We were really all there to see Valentina dance with her Ballet Folklorico class. Valentina is one of the children that my mom watches at her daycare, and her parents have been family friends for a long time.


There are few things cuter than watching one and two year olds try to do a choreographed routine. Valentina also danced with the older girls (I think 3-5 year old) so that's what you see above.

Of course, I had to steal my niece from my sister for a little bit...


After the Lemon Festival, we visited Sara's parents and then I headed home. It was a full day and it was fun to be with friends and family in my hometown that I visit so infrequently. Anyway, here's Johanna (day 13) wondering why there's always a camera in her face.

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