The Editors

April 30, 2005

Thankfully the weather has gotten much better in the past week or so, people are happier and we can actually do spring stuff outside. Will and I spent Saturday afternoon at tryout practices for the team we played with last year, Brass Monkey...and so it starts, the next season of silly frisbee. Four hours of sprinting, catching and throwing later, we headed over to Dave Brokaw's pad for a barbeque. BBQs are definitely a sign that we're in sunnier times.

For the second night in a row, we had tickets to go see a show. Last night, Will, Abe and I headed down to Mezzanine in SOMA to go see the new New Wave band-to-see-and-talk-about from England, The Editors. I've been pretty psyched about this band lately, as their songs have been popping up the past few monthly mixes.

If we're not really interested in the opening bands, we always try to time it so that we show up in time for the headlining band, but we showed up at Mezzanine around 11 pm, and because it's the weekend, the second opening band, Stellastarr* hadn't even stepped on stage yet. Oy! Thankfully, Mezzanine has these great comfy couches on the second level, so we just hung out until Stellastarr* was finished their set.

Stellastarr*

The Editors finally hit the stage sometime after midnight (oy!) and I was immediately charmed by the spastic dancing stylings of lead singer Tom Smith, who has an amazing sense of stage presence and awareness. I was also impressed by the clarity of his voice and how well the band sounded, as crisp and clear, if not better, than on media.






I was happy, especially as they rocked the set with my favorites "Munich" and "Bullets". I also got a major case of camera-envy, as some dude in front of me had a pretty nice digi with a huge LCD screen, kickass zoom and he took some sweet shots of the band...I think I may be shopping for a new digi...

On another note, the two back-to-back nights of concerts has solidified my belief that I'm too old to do back-to-back nights of concerts. This does not bode well for us, as we are getting particularly picky in our "maturity" as to what concerts we will get tickets to. We've limited our scope of venues (primarily Bottom of the Hill, Slims, GAMH, Bimbo's, The Independent, Cafe Du Nord, Mezzanine) and the nights that we will go see shows (Friday nights are tough to stay awake after a week of work, Sunday nights are tough because you have to get up and go to work). So ideally, all our favorite bands would come to SF and play our favorite venues and only on Mon-Thurs or Saturdays...and not back-to-back...oh dear.

The Lovemakers

April 29, 2006

Yay! I love weekends. Last night, Will, Abe and I went to Bottom of the Hill to go see The Lovemakers play in a benefit for the band Film School. These days, it's a pretty common thing to hear about bands getting gear or stuff stolen, and Film School was no exception (from their website):

3/8/06: As many of you have already heard, our van, the 2003 Ford Econoline we bought two days before we left for tour, was stolen with all our equipment in Philadelphia. Our van was parked in a well-lit, 24-hour attendant secured lot with a club on the steering wheel. Even though we did everything we could to keep this van safe and secured, the thieves sawed through the club, hotwired the van and drove it through the parking lot checkout fence. Pretty unbelievable. Unfortunately our van insurance does not cover theft and while some of our insurance might cover some of the gear, it will most likely be minimal.

So, The Lovemakers, and a bunch of other bands played two benefit shows at the Bottom of the Hill to help Film School raise some money to get some more gear and get back on tour. I had seen The Lovemakers play at Great American Music Hall last year, and they are a great band to see live. They're from Oakland, and the lead vocalists, Scott and Lisa, are known for their fantastic stage presence, sensual dancing, random stripping of clothes, and occasional make-out sessions. Entertaining, indeed.



An interesting thing about the Lovemakers is that their music is much better live than on CD. Their vibrant stage show brings so much more to the music, as their recorded work almost seems dampened by being limited to one dimension. They ended their set with one of my favorites "Set Me Free", and of course, saved their big-radio-play song "Prepare For The Fight" for their encore. If you ever get a chance, check out the Lovemakers in a live show, it's a great entertainment and they're a fantastic local band.

White-Hatted

April 23, 2006

Will and I had a nice long weekend back home in Calgary & Vulcan, from late Wednesday night tonight. It was a last-minute trip, and the purpose was to add to a big surprise for his dad. Will's dad, Mike Lavery, has volunteered for the past 20 years for Tourism Calgary, and was being honored by the Mayor of Calgary (Dave Bronconnier), who was bestowing him with the famous Calgary White Cowboy Hat. The White Cowboy hat is the symbol of hospitality in Calgary (equivalent to the key to the city), and is rarely given to locals.



WEDNESDAY

Will and I flew out from SFO to Calgary (via Denver, oy, there's nothing like doubling your travel time by going through Denver) on late Wednesday night. We had recently seen the Oscar-worthy movie "Capote", so I took the long haul as an opportunity to read the Truman Capote novel "In Cold Blood". It was a really good book, although I wished I had read it before seeing the movie...I digress...

Will's buddy, Tyler, was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and shuttle us to the south of Calgary to our hotel (we had to hide out for one night in order to keep the surprise alive). It was nice to catch up over a couple Caesars, and then off to bed.

THURSDAY

We had an early wake-up call and were ready for Susan Lavery to pick us up. Will's stepsister, Andi, had flown in from Toronto for the occasion as well. We all headed over the Carriage House Inn, where Tourism Calgary was holding their Annual General Meeting, and the site of the super-secret white hat ceremony. All the surprise details were worked out and they managed to sneak us into the back of the meeting as the AGM was starting. After some introductory comments, the mayor presented Mike Lavery with the White Cowboy hat and he was blown away by the fact that his son and daughter were also in attendence. It was awesome...I love surprises.

Mayor Bronconnier presenting the White Cowboy Hat to Mike





They also presented Mike with a fantastic bronze statue of a cowboy riding a bucking horse...



After the ceremony, we had a nice brunch and spent the afternoon back at Mike and Susan's house. Will and I did some work (well, Will did a lot of work, and I did a little), and I finally learned how to do Sudoku.
I'm hooked, addicted, and fanatical about Sudoku now, which was what I was afraid of and why I was so hesitant to try it before.

On Thursday night, we were treated to a fantastic dinner at the Pinebrook Golf and Country Club, with the family and some of the Lavery's friends. And I know you must be dying to know what we ate...there was an appetizer with scallop, salmon, and polenta, and then Will had the T-bone steak and I had the AAA beef tenderloin that was tried and true delicious Alberta Beef...heaven! Mike chose a fantastic wine as well, the Shiraz from Amon-Ra...more heaven!

FRIDAY

The day of Friday was pretty uneventful, considering I didn't awake from my slumber until 11:30 am...oh glorious vacation! I did a little work e-mail, a little bit more Sudoku, and then my momma showed up and whisked Will and I back to Vulcan for some downtime and catch-up with my parents.

My parents really did it up big-time for our brief visit...we had lobster for dinner, with the first NHL playoff games (Anaheim Ducks vs. Calgary Flames...go Flames!) in the background. Is there really anything better in life?

SATURDAY

The spoiling of Bea & Will continued as we were both indulged with 90 minute massages on Saturday morning. The younger sister of one of my high school buddies is now a masseuse, and she even makes house calls! Will can be quoted as saying "I love Vulcan", but he's got a really skewed idea of what usually happens in this little town.

Will and I headed back up to Calgary on Saturday afternoon, as I was due to catch up with my good friends, Sonia & Scott, and finally meet their new little boy, Sascha, who's now 5 months old. Sonia prepared a fantastic finger food spread, and had invited a bunch of girls for me to catch up with: Miki, Colette, Kim, Allison and her two mini-Kurts (Chloe & Reese)...there's no way I would've been able to see everyone and catch up without this opportunity...thanks Sonia!







On a serious note, I think Sascha may be one of the cutest babies ever...okay, maybe the cutest boy baby, because my niece Olivia still has the nepotism upper-hand...but he's so adorable! He's happy, super-fat and kissable, and was charming all the ladies...he is his father's baby.









After the late afternoon catch-up session with the girls, I headed off to dinner with Donna and Dyana, close to my old stomping grounds on 17th Avenue (the Red Mile?). We went for sushi (what else?) at Hana Sushi, where I enjoyed sashimi galore.

After yummy dinner, we coasted down 17th Avenue, checking out the old digs with new faces, from The Living Room (where I used to work in grad school), to the Bungalow, past the new Mercury, and onto Well, a new bar that my friend Shane partly owns.

At Well, I fell in love with their Lychee martinis, so that kept me quite entertained for a few hours. Will and his friend, Tyler, showed up a little later. (BTW, Tyler is co-owner of Mountain Bike City, in case you're ever looking for a rad new mountain bike...it's where Team Canada and friends gets all their mountain biking needs fulfilled...)


A Dyana-Bea-Donna Sandwich





SUNDAY

It's never a good sign when you wake up after a great night out, and instead of dealing with a typical headache, you're dealing with 50 mph sneezes and retched allergies...wha' happened? Am I allergic to the alcohol aftermath of Lychee martinis?

Will and I headed to Chinatown with Mike to meet up with my parents for a late dim-sum at Harbour City. The hours were ticking away quickly and Will and I found ourselves saying goodby to our families quicker than we wished.

Stuffed-up and with my Mama

Season Ender Bender: Best Cabin Ever

April 16, 2006

FRIDAY

It's been a wonderful ski season full of good times, pow-pow and adventures, but alas, it all has to come to an end. It was our last weekend at the best cabin ever and as expected, we celebrated the closing of the cabin in a big way.

Will arrived from Tokyo around noon and we hopped in his car and headed up to Tahoe around 3 pm. Throughout the evening, a few other cabin-folk trickled into the cabin: Abe and Brokaw, then JonZ with Emily and Mark in tow, and then Travis. What started as an innocent night of card games and revelry turned into a series of events that some folks are not quite sure that they remember.

What we do know:
- We (except a very sober Travis) went to the casinos at 2 am
- We played blackjack and craps until 5:30 am
- We played the card game "A$#hole"
- We didn't make it to the ski-hill on Saturday

What we don't know:
- What possessed Will and Emily to jointly call two cabs to take us to the casinos at 2 am
- What songs we were singing so rambunctiously at the cabin (according to Travis)

...Wha' happened?

SATURDAY

Obviously, Saturday was a write-off. Certain folks slept in until the afternoon while others watched "Tombstone" (my all-time favorite western movie).

Team Suburu still at the cabin on Saturday afternoon:



Sometime in the afternoon, we finally decided to get some fresh air. JonZ, Emily and Mark embarked on an epic walk around South Lake Tahoe with their pigskin in tow. Will, Abe, Brokaw, Travis and I left and went to...uh...a pub. As we were leaving the cabin, someone made a remark that there was quite the pond that had accumulated across the driveway and that it would funny to skim it on two planks or a board. This "innocent" comment spurred on some more discussion and the next thing you know, Abe and Will have decided that they are going to construct a snow path that enable killer pond-skimming. Did I mention that they came up with this idea when they were perfectly sober?

Scouting the pond-skimming track:




So, onto Steamer's Pub we went, where they have their infamous Mama Llama's $2 tacos on Tuesdays and Saturdays. They were delicious. We watched some vicious lacrosse, talked about how tough boxing is, and then JonZ and company showed up.

After Steamer's the storm threatened to roll in, but not before Will and Abe could get to work building the pond-skimming track. I helped a little near the end to join the track and work on some "safety" issues.









The no-pond test run of the track (do you like their outfits?):






And joy! Bea figured out how to embed video clips in her blog! Here you go:















Pond scum covered skis

Onto the hot tub with some celery (?):



Domestic JonZ

Saturday night also turned into a massive game night, with Hoopla (a version of Cranium) and derivations of A$#hole. Thankfully, no stupid decisions to go to the casinos were entertained, so we stayed in. There was a late-night showing of "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle", but I think folks were still reeling from the activites of the previous night.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning brought lots o' snow, so after a little sleep-in, we did our best to get the cabin cleaned up and in shape to head off to the mountain. We wanted to get in a couple hours before attacking the drive home. Brokaw was a domestic madman and had done a ton of cleaning before everyone had even woken up.

Abe, Will and I headed over to Heavenly, where there was lots of pow-pow, but it was cleverly hiding rock-hard bullet-proof moguls underneath.

Rock-hard bullet-proof moguls under 2 feet of pow-pow = Bea airbound onto her ass more often than expected

By 2 pm, I was exhausted and luckily, we decided to head out and hit the road. I felt sorry for the cars going eastbound on Hwy 50, because traffic was stopped in several places all the way to Placerville. Will and I clocked a 4 hour drive home, which was amazing considering the storm. I think the fact that it was Easter Sunday helped to lessen the traffic flow as well.

So, it seems that the snow isn't letting up, so even though the best cabin ever is closed for the season, we may need to do some weekend warrior trips to other hills. Mammoth...anyone? Bueller? Bueller?