I am a big fan of what KCRW (Seattle) is doing. They are streaming some of the best music over the internet. I am also a big fan of Ben Howard and India Bourne. India is the cellist and percussionist for Ben's band. I have picked Ben as one of the stars of 2015. I have been wrong many times before. I do not care. He is one on my watch and listen list.
Here is Ben Howard w India - turn up your speakers!
You should not be able to complain (to express dissatisfaction, pain, uneasiness, censure, resentment, or grief; find fault) unless when things change you express the opposite. Lately I have complained about lack of pavers, rain, and who knows what else. Today everything changed - the pavers have all been laid, the cacti have been planted, the mini palms are planted, and the fruit trees have been planted. On top of that I had a great game of tennis. Here is a photo of Jay and Katie at Jay's corporate Christmas party. Jay was honoured as a top salesman at this get together. Congrats Jay.
All of the pavers have been cut and laid.
I may have been wrong about both. The spaghetti dinner at Frank's place was more fun than I have had in a long time. Agreed there were Frank impersonators but they were in their 70's, 80's and 90's and put on a pretty good show. A good time was had by all. It turns out that Dolly Sinatra Lodge is Lodge # 2400, Order Sons of Italy in America. It is named after Dolly Sinatra of course. There was a sense that you should contribute or someone would shoot out your knees. Great night. Our next cheap and cheerful outing is going to be Bowling at the Fantasy Springs Casino. Black lights, strobes, the whole bag of tricks. The wives have all agreed to wear white bras.
The &^!@% pavers may be another matter. Agreed, there were pallets of stones for the workmen to lay at the beginning of the day yesterday. But by 3PM they had laid all of the pavers and had only covered 30% of the courtyard. The street was empty. We have no idea if the workmen will show up at 8AM this morning. We have no idea when or how the remainder of the pavers will arrive.
A couple of weeks ago Carol and I coerced some folk into going to the Ace Hotel to see Sissy Bingo. "Trust me" we said. It was not bad, nothing that you would do twice in one season, but not bad. I think that tonight could be pay-back time. We have been invited by one of the couples to go to Frank Sinatra's mother home for a spaghetti dinner. I do not think that Frank's mom is hosting, but I will bet that there is a Frank impersonator and that he will sing a Paul Anka song or two.
The paving stones arrived yesterday. I pulled one from a pallet and had a good look and again it was not what we ordered. We have already had the wrong pavers once, how can this happen. The landscape designer was here in 15 minutes to show us that I had pulled the paver from the wrong pallet - it was scheduled to be moved to another worksite this morning. Relief.
This morning the pavers started to be installed. And yes, that is Carol doing laundry in the garage - click on the photo, you will see for yourself.
Music for 2015:
- Tom Odell - the modern version of Jeff Buckley.
- Polica - from Ohio, vocals, two drum kits and a bass guitar.
- Ben Howard - a good follow-on to Ed Sheeran - IMHO England is turning out more good music than anywhere else at this time.
- The Tallest Man on Earth - gotta love his moniker.
- Jake Bugg - brilliant, but we'll see.
- Blackie and the Rodeo Kings - not only a tribute to Willie P Bennet but also Canadians and a good band.
Here is Jake Bugg - turn up your speakers