The 2013 Indio, Palm Springs, And Hollywood Trip

worldmark_indioWe just returned from a week’s vacation in sunny Southern California. We timed it for spring break week, not so we could “party like it’s 1999” but because we had no kids to watch that week! Yow! We wanted some warm weather and we got it in Indio, with temps in the mid -80s. So nice.

We went from Friday to Friday and our first destination was Indio, in the desert but nestled like an oasis with Palm Springs, Palm Desert, La Quinta and other cities. We spent five nights there and then two in Hollywood. Here’s what we did, mostly…

Friday March 22nd

We hit the road early, since it’s quite a ways to drive. Road trips are fun though, so no worries. About halfway there, we stopped briefly in Bakersfield for gas and also for lunch. Lassen’s Natural Foods there has a deli inside that serves a variety of options, many of them vegetarian and/or vegan. Sufficiently stuffed after that, we traveled the rest of the way, through desert, hills, forest, and more desert, until we got to our first destination, the Worldmark Indio. We checked in to our very nice room (actually living room with large kitchen area, bedroom, and bathroom). We took a pleasant walk around the resort, since the weather was beautiful and warm. So nice and warm, in fact that we went to the pool (one of them) and swam for a while, even though it lasted until after 9pm. Then of course we needed a snack back in the room and some rest.


RIP Denis Tomassetti (Esoteric Records)

denisSacramento area music lovers, this is sad news. There’s a nice obituary at least.

I spent a whole bunch of time (and money) in his stores over the years. And he actually bought some of the record bins from our store Obsessed With Music when we closed it. Like I said, some sad news…

I can still remember searching for (and often finding) some elusive music items in his store: a Prince 45 with the then-rare track “Horny Toad” on the B-side, a John Wesley Harding CD promo EP (actually a couple of them), XTC singles, Cure 12″s, and a bunch of other stuff over the years.

Rest in peace, Denis and thanks for having your store, Sacramento is a better place because of it.

Sacramento Bee obituary

SacMusicBlog post

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Blockbuster Going Out Of Business Bargains

blockbuster_moviesOur local Blockbuster Video store is closing, as are hundreds of them across the country. I am sad to see them go, but they are having a huge sale. I got these titles for $16.37, including tax. That’s a pretty good deal, I would say.

Before you say it, two of these are obviously for the kids to watch. But the other four are for us. Some brief notes:

Sleepwalk WIth Me – comedian Mike Birbiglia’s film is quirky and funny. I saw it once but want to see it again.

Ruby Sparks – Clever modern romcom with some definite twists. Original and endearing. I saw it once but want to see it again.

One Day – Never seen it but it looked interesting.

Defending Your Life – I really like Albert Brooks films, but somehow missed this one. Always wanted to see it and now I own it.

Air Bud (Spikes Back) – for the kids

Wimpy Kid – ditto

Have you seen any of these? What did you think?

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But What Do Vegetarians And Vegans Eat?

Food Collage

Lots of stuff. Seriously.

People ask me that every now and then. I’ve been vegetarian since the mid-90s and in the last year or so have become about 90-95% vegan. I don’t eat animals and they don’t eat me. Seems fair.

But people (read: carnivores) seem to think there’s nothing left to eat if you don’t eat meat, eggs, and dairy. But that’s not the case. Everything in the picture is vegan and it was all good. And that just scratches the surface. Most of that stuff is from area restaurants that are veg-friendly. And of course, if you eat at home anything is possible.

In fact, right now I’m getting really, really hungry! See you later…

Shop vegetarian | Shop vegan

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Happy Birthday To George Harrison

Yes, he was a member of “that group”. But George was a talent in his own right and a pretty interesting person too.

Here’s a video for his song “When We Was Fab”, a light-hearted and humorous look at his days with that other band. Cool video, good song, and a clever idea.

And it’s his birthday too!

 

 

What do you think?

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Terrific Tunes For Tuesday – Take 56

I just finished watching The Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour” and was going to post a Beatles video, but when I was looking around and thinking about it, I decided to post this instead. For now at least. It’s “Gimme Sympathy” by Metric, a modern band with 5 or 6 albums out, all very good, some songs great. Is this one great? Well, it does reference The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Good start, huh? But with a modern sound. And singer Emily Haines is a great vocalist, not sure if that comes through on this track but trust me on this.

Now watch and listen, you will probably want to turn up the volume while you’re at it.

 

 

“Come on baby play me somethin’ like “Here Comes The Sun”….

What did you think?

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Terrific Tunes For Tuesday – Take 55

David Bowie celebrated his 66th birthday recently, by releasing a new single and also a new album (finally) is due soon. Great news for those of us who had heard that he’d retired from music.

So that made me think of his classic songs (there are SO many) and I decided to feature this gem from forty years ago! Is it dated? Well maybe, but not for me. I still love his look back then and it’s a really well-written song. And sung too of course. Enjoy the video, circa 1973, for “Life On Mars”:

 

 

What do you think, feel free to leave a comment…

David Bowie web site | wikipediamusic and video

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Our Latest 48 Music Items

Here is the latest update. Some we bought, some were gifts, a few we burned. Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or are you just confused?

Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FORMAT – SIZE – COUNTRY – COMMENTS

Parker, Graham – Three Chords Good CD 5 US with The Rumour

Muse – The 2nd Law CD 5 US

Wombats, The – A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation CD 5 US

Of Monsters And Men – My Head Is An Animal CD 5 US

Passion Pit – Gossamer CD 5 US

Passion Pit – Manners CD 5 US Limited Edition with bonus tracks

Gibbard, Benjamin – Former Lives CD 5 US

A Fine Frenzy – Pines CD 5 US

Shiny Toy Guns – III CD 5 US Autographed

Carlile, Brandi – Bear Creek CD 5 US

Higgins, Missy – The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle CD 5 US Autographed

Herzig, Katie – The Waking Sleep CD 5 US Autographed

LP – Into The Wild CD 5 US CD with DVD

Garbage – Not Your Kind Of People CD 5 US


Four Videos! More Graham Parker At The Catalyst

Yes, I already  posted about this show, but now I am adding four video clips from the show. For the original post click here, and here are the videos:

Graham Parker and the Rumour at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA, December 15th, 2012 – “Watch The Moon Come Down”

 

 

The other three videos are after the “read more”. See you on the other side…


Birthday Post-It-Palooza

We had some friends over recently for my birthday and they put notes about me all over the house.

 

 

In case you can’t read them:

Steve’s favorite Beatle is John
Steve likes technology
Steve goes to (walks) Heron School a lot!
Thanx to Petra B, Steve now loves dogs


Graham Parker And The Rumour In Santa Cruz 2012

It was December 15th, 2012, and Santa Cruz, California was frigid and rainy. Inside The Catalyst, it was only frigid. Seriously, people wore coats and scarfs through the whole concert. But it was well worth it to see Graham Parker reunited with The Rumour after over thirty years. Their albums from that period are classics, including Squeezing Out Sparks, Howling Wind, and more.

Recently they released an album of new material and the show combined a number of songs from that effort with many of Graham’s best know songs from back in the day. (The full set list follows, plus pictures!).


Happy Birthday Woody Allen

Woody is perhaps America’s greatest living filmmaker. Certainly in the top five. I have loved his movies for as long as I can remember and I look forward to each new one. So I want to wish him a very happy birthday!

Let’s celebrate! Here are a few clips from his films.

 

 

More below…


Our Food: The Right To Know

We should have the right to know what is in our food and what is done to it before we buy it. Please join me in voting YES on Proposition 37 in California.

 

 

Thank you!

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The 2012 Stevenology Voter Guide Makes Voting Easy!

Are you wondering how to vote in this election? Well, wonder no more. Here at stevenology we make it easy. No need to think for yourself, we’ll do that for you! It’s simple, just vote like this:

President – Barack Obama

US Senator – Dianne Feinstein

US Representative – Doris Matsui

US Representative – Ami Bera

State Assembly – Roger Dickinson

State Assembly – Ken Cooley

Proposition 30 – YES – Temporary Taxes for Education


The Beatles Love, The Rutles Lunch

As you probably know, The Beatles music was used by Cirque Du Soliel for a show in Las Vegas called “Love”. It’s a great show and I highly recommend seeing it. The Beatles music was remixed and mashed-up, overseen by Beatles producer George Martin, so that the music is both familiar and fresh.

The Rutles (learn more), on the other hand, were NOT asked by Cirque Du Soliel to do anything. They are always in the shadow of the other fab four, it would seem. So there is no Rutles Vegas show. But what if? Luckily, some enterprising person DID remix and mashup their music and it’s now the soundtrack to their non-existent production, “Lunch”. Ah, if only it were meant to be. But we DO have these (click “continue”)…


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