Category: My Life

The 2014 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip – Part 1

space needle

It was time for our annual trip to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. We go every year, since 2001, making this our 14th year in a row. And we love it more than ever.

I’ll post some pictures soon, but first, here’s what we did on our trip.

Tuesday August 26

We usually fly out on Wednesday but we added an extra day this year so we could get to Seattle on Petra’s birthday. We left in the early morning to give us more time there. We caught the Super Shuttle (Blue Van) to the airport, where Mama O (Linda) and Aunt Sam met us and off we went. It was a quick Southwest flight. In Seattle, we took the convenient light rail and soon arrived at our hotel, The Camlin. It was too early to check in so they held our luggage for us while we went out in search of some fun. First stop was lunch at Cyber-Dogs, an all vegetarian hot dog place, very funky and very cool. After that we caught the monorail over to the Seattle Center. We sat a while at one of Petra’s happy places, the International Fountain.


Our Latest 27 Music Items

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

CDs are listed first, then 7″ vinyl, then 12″ vinyl! Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FORMAT – SIZE – COUNTRY – COMMENTS

Michaelson, Ingrid – Lights Out CD 5 US
John, Elton – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road CD 5 US Box set – 4 CDs + 1 DVD + Book
Numan, Gary – The Pleasure Principle CD 5 US 30th Anniversary Edition – 2 CDs
XTC – Skylarking CD 5 US Corrected Polarity Edition
Smiths, The – …Best II CD 5 US
Parker, Graham – The Bootleg Box Volume 2 CD 5 US 6-CD Official Bootleg Box
Parker, Graham – Platinum Bastard CD 5 US Official Bootleg Series
Durbin, James – Celebrate CD 5 US Special CD + DVD version, autographed


Pictures From The 2013 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip

bumbershoot_sign_2013Hello again, family, friends, and everyone else. The pictures from our 2013 trip to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival (and much more!)  are now online! We had a great time and so did our friends. Take a look at the pictures!

If you have any questions, just ask. And leave a comment if you want….

2013 Seattle and Bumbershoot photos

What we did on the 2013 trip

Get stevenology by email

Follow stevenology on twitter


Record Store Day 2014

record store day 2014

Record Store Day!

This year (2014) I found some nice items by:

Regina Spektor (on orange vinyl)

Two David Bowie picture discs

Peter Murphy (on silver vinyl)

Phantogram

Neon Trees (on hot pink vinyl)

Lorde

The Pretenders

Niki & The Dove

Ingrid Michaelson

and also a free CD sampler and some free Blur buttons too. Yow!!

Click on the picture to see it larger.

What do you think?

Record Store Day web site

Get stevenology updates by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

 


Cool Collectibles – Part 1

This is a continuing series of posts about some of the cool collectibles in our music collection. This is the first post but there will be plenty more.

Today’s photo shows our 3-inch size CDs by the group XTC, one of my favorite bands and one that I love to collect stuff by. I think there may be one or two of their 3″ CDs I don’t have but these (below) are pretty rare for the most part.

Click on the picture to see it larger…

xtc-3inch

Want to discuss this stuff, or XTC, or music in general? Leave me a comment!

 

Shop for XTC music

Get stevenology updates by email

Follow stevenology on twitter


Our Latest 43 Music Items

Record_PlayerHere is the latest update. It’s been a while since the last one. Some of these were new, some were used, some were gifts, a few we burned. Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or are you just confused?

CDs are listed first, then 12″ vinyl, 7″ vinyl, and even a cassette! Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FORMAT – SIZE – COUNTRY – COMMENTS

McCartney, Paul – New CD 5 US

Numan, Gary – Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind) CD 5 US

McMahon, Andrew – The Pop Underground CD 5 US

Beatles, The – On Air – Live At The BBC Volume 2 CD 5 US

Beatles, The – Ultra Rare Trax Vol. 2 CD 5 Lux Bootleg


Ed Kowalczyk At The Assembly

Ed Kowal

Note: This was also posted at www.sacmusicblog.com

Back in the day (the 90’s day), Ed Kowalczyk and his band Live were huge stars in the rock world. Their album Throwing Copper was a mega-hit with a bunch of singles, and other subsequent albums spawned more hits. But things always change and bands argue and split up. In Live’s case it was not a clean split, but it seems that Ed has come out ok. He has since released two solo albums and an EP.

He was in Sacramento recently in support of his new album The Flood And The Mercy, but also here to showcase the songs of his career in a solo, acoustic setting at The Assembly, Sacramento’s new and really nice club downtown. Ed played and sang songs ranging from the earliest Live albums to his latest solo album and with plenty in between. Pictures and video from the show, after the “read more”…


Thomas Dolby At The Crest Theater

Thomas DolbyPeople think of him as the 80’s synth guy, but he’s a lot more than that. Thomas Dolby brought his “Imaginary Lighthouse” project to one of my favorite venues, the Crest Theater,  and most people missed it. The theater was about half-full, but it should have been a sell-out crowd. The show was great and the crowd was enthusiastic.

Note: This post was also used at www.sacmusicblog.com

Review and photos after the “read more”…


The 2013 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip

seattle_skylineFor the thirteenth year in a row, we traveled up north to Seattle for the annual Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. I’ll get some pictures on here soon. We had a few extra days too, to see the city, but of course the festival is the big draw. As in most years, some friends travel along, this time it was Cal and Laura, along with Sam and Mama O. What did we do? Well….

Wednesday August 28

All six of us had the same Southwest flight in the morning. Once in Seattle, we separated at various points. Petra and I took the light rail to our hotel, The Camlin. The room wasn’t quite ready so we had them hold our luggage while we went to lunch at one of our favorites, Cyber-Dogs, a wonderful vegetarian hot dog place. These dogs are more like meals and really delicious. After that we walked over to Whole Foods and got some supplies for the week. Then it was back to the hotel. Now the room was ready and we went up and unpacked. In a bit, we took the monorail over to the Seattle Center and met up with the rest of the party for a while. Then Petra and I had a nice vegan chinese food meal at Bamboo Garden, where everything is animal-free! And then the monorail back to the hotel. It was a good start for the trip.


Our Latest 96 Music Items

Record_PlayerHere is the latest update. It’s been a while since the last one. Some of these were new, some were used, 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

Bowie, David – The Next Day CD 5 US Special edition, three bonus tracks

Fun. – Some Nights CD 5 US

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City CD 5 US

Harrison, George – Early Takes Volume 1 CD 5 US

Wombats, The – This Modern Glitch CD 5 US

Bonamassa, Joe – Live From New York Beacon Theater CD 5 US

Passion Pit – Chunk Of Change CD 5 US

Rolling Stones, The – Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! CD 5 US

Thenewno2 – Thefearofmissingout CD 5 US

Thenewno2 – EP002 CD 5 US

Visage – Fade To Grey – The Best Of Visage CD 5 US

XX, The – The XX CD 5 US

Beatles, The – Anthology 2 Promo CD 5 US Promo only

Beatles, The – The Capitol Albums Vol. 2 CD 5 US

Ra Ra Riot – Beta Love CD 5 US

Higgins, Missy – The Sound Of White CD 5 US

Higgins, Missy – On A Clear Night CD 5 US

Costello, Elvis – The Man In Time CD 5 US Bootleg

Costello, Elvis – Radioactivity CD 5 US Bootleg


Pictures From The 2013 Las Vegas Mini-Trip

las_vegas_2013_collage

Hello once again, family, friends, and everyone else. The pictures from our 2013 Las Vegas mini-trip to Las Vegas are now online! We had a great time even though the trip was short. Take a look at the pictures!

If you have any questions, just ask. Now take a look! And leave a comment if you want….

2013 Las Vegas mini-trip photos

Get stevenology by email

Follow stevenology on twitter


The 2013 Las Vegas Mini-Trip

las_vegas_2013_collage

We needed a break from kid-watching and we had a credit with Southwest Airlines that was set to expire. So, one and one makes two as they say, and we booked a flight and found a good deal on a hotel. Vegas, baby!

So here’s what we did. Most of it anyway. Some of it stayed in Vegas.

Tuesday May 28th

We rode the blue van to the airport in the late afternoon. I made the mistake of trying to make conversation with the driver, asking if he ever had problem riders. So he talked all the way non-stop to the airport about those people, in detail, and he was absolutely NOT happy about them. My bad, I was just trying to be friendly. But in no time we were on the plane to Las Vegas. It was a quick flight and we caught a van to our hotel, The Signature at the MGM Grand. The Signature is one of the few non-smoking hotels around The Strip. It was late evening when we checked in but we were hungry so we took the monorail a few miles to the other end of the strip. Why? Well…


Terrific Tunes For Tuesday – Take 57

Here’s something you don’t see everyday.

First off, thanks to our friends over at Clicks and Pops for posting this a while back and for reminding me that it existed. I am a big Elvis Costello fan and have been since his first album in the late seventies. This video is a lot more recent, and shows his playful and humorous side (which was not as evident in the early years). I love that he can parody himself and have fun with it. What do YOU think?

 

 

Well? Maybe you should leave me a comment…

Elvis Costello music

Get stevenology updates by email

Follow stevenology on twitter


Cyndi Lauper Rocks The Crest Theater

Cyndi LauperLong-time superstar singer Cyndi Lauper played the Crest Theater and brought down the house. It was a very enthusiastic sellout crowd and she did not disappoint. No, not at all. The occasion was the Sacramento stop of her “She’s So Unusual 30th Anniversary Tour”. To commemorate that landmark pop album, Cyndi performed it in it’s entirety.

Remember all the hits from the album? Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, She Bop, All Through The Night, Money Changes Everything, When U Were Mine, and more. In between the songs, she talked a lot about the making of the album and whatever else came into her mind. And it was great, lots of anecdotes and memories with her trademark humor. She’s a charming, funny, and gutsy woman and her stories only served to make the show even better. For her encore, she performed a few other songs, Shine and of course True Colors.

She’s a wonderful show(wo)man and the crowd went wild for her. It was truly a great show.

Here are some pictures from the show, click on the “continue”…


2013 Southern California Trip Photos Are Online

Palm treesHello again, family, friends, and everyone else too. The pictures from our 2013 Southern California trip to Indio, Palm Springs, and Hollywood are now online! We had a great time as usual. Check out the pix!

Any questions, just ask me. Take a look! And leave a comment if you want, I’d like that….

2013 Indio, Palm Springs, and Hollywood photos

Get stevenology by email

Follow stevenology on twitter


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

Get stevenology updates by email

Follow stevenology on twitter


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?

Get stevenology updates by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

 


Instagram
YouTube