Saul is Six!

Saul's Sixth Birthday Safari was a success on Saturday. He and his brothers and cousins enjoyed making and decorating the cake and playing dinosaur bingo. Now that that is over, I can smash out the bathroom shower and fix the dry rot! Hooray!

Barack Obama Tiger Beat Cover Clinches Slumber Party Vote

Banjo Player Sought In Hootenanny Spree

BOSTON—"These constant hootenannings must stop," said Mayor Menino, a staunch critic since Faneuil Hall's doors were forcibly removed and used as a dancing surface.

A Good Hustle

Dressed as a pirate, I fiddled downtown on the opening day of Pirates of the Caribbean 3. I did it three separate times, first between about 11:00 and 12:00, then again between 2:00 and 3:00 and finally between 6:00 and 7:00.The best time was between 6:00 and 7:00, and I found out that if I hang out in front of the elevators to the parking lot across from the theater, the music they blast can't be heard and I have a captive audience while they wait for the elevator to come down. I brought in $60.00 and change! Lots of people said they enjoyed the tunes, and tipped between $.25 and $5.00. The best compliment I got all day, though, was when a bum said, "You have a good hustle," and gave me $.50. No police harrassment this time, either, and I met Mimi Ngyuen, the Downtown Stockton Alliance recruiter of street musicians who told me to come down to get my paperwork started.Man, it's addicting! It is like fishing, in a way, and you can see the fish smile, reach into their pockets, and take out the money. I see a lucrative summer of busking ahead.

Busking In Downtown Stockton

This afternoon, the boys and I tried to scrape up some money by busking in front of the City Center Theater by the waterfront. There were two other street performers there besides us.One was a Tevye lookalike named Jesse, short for Jesus, dressed in a blues brothers suit playing a Willie Nelson style acoustic guitar and singing oldies like Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison. The other was a mime in white face blowing up invisible balloons and fashioning them into various animals. Seth and Saul did a light sabre routine while I played Star Wars theme music on the violin. Several teenage girls giggled and watched for a few minutes and put a few dollars into the coffee can we had set up. Another group of young kids showed interest and begged parents for quarters to put in. The Tevye character came over and I invited him to play a few songs with me, and a bunch of people put money in his case. He had a permit, I didn't. Then later, a policeman told me I had to have a permit to play and to ask Tevye where to get one. I told him I had already asked him, and he told me to mosey. We made about $10 total, and the kids spent their money on icecream while I opted for the busker's choice of beverage, Tecate. I promptly researched what it would take to get a permit, and applied online. Jesse, told me he made $100 last night in the same place, so I am going to try it this summer and see how much supplemental income I can make playing on the streets of downtown Stockton. Stockton is great! Take a look!

Saul Versus Allan

Mother's Day

Saul wrote a special Mother's Day message on the backyard fence yesterday. The idea caught on with his two older brothers. Seth took it to the extreme. I think his local fire department could use him! What nice penmanship!

Seth, Saul, and the Bee

After twelve or thirteen rounds at the Kiwanis Club of Escalon's Annual Old Fashioned Spelling Bee, Seth got third place out of eighteen second graders! Saul also competed in the first grade contest even though he is in kindergarten. Seth spelled some difficult words including grandfather and aunt, as well as contractions like won't, without forgetting the apostrophe. He finally went out on the word sleek misspelling it S-L-E-A-K. Not too shabby! He got $5.00 and a nice white ribbon. Saul went two rounds and went out on as misspelling it A-Z-E. I couldn't be prouder of my boys!

Camel Toad

What can one expect when Duncan Atkinson wields his mighty Destroyer and I don the all powerful Les Paul? It has to be wicked, harmonic, and utterly Camel-esque! Our dueling guitars were laid down upon Toadstool Theatre's infamous, "Behold Her Name," and these pictures are evidence that we produced some solid rock sounds. Behold.

Chabot

Dad and I rode last Sunday at Chabot Lake. Dad rode the Specialized Hard Rock that Sherri and I found at the flea market on Saturday. It was windy in the valley, but it was pretty calm over in the bay area.Here is Dad at the top of the hill. We both made it without falling. Nice!

The Boys' Spring Pictures

Camping at New Melones

Our overnight trip to New Melones "Glory Hole" Recreation Area was, in the words of Borat, a great success. Sherri was bitten by the mountain biking bug, and I was just bitten by bugs. The boys said they liked swimming and skipping rocks more than bike riding, but they still rode and had fun. The VW made it there and back, although we had to let faster cars go around. On the way there, a truck was riding us and Sherri thought they were mad we were going too slow, then when they passed and waved, we saw that it was Mrs. Villines, Saul's kindergarten teacher who ended up camping at the same place where we camped. After the riding and camping, we stopped at our favorite pizza parlor in Angel's Camp, Mike's, and had pizza and salad. The boys fell asleep on the way home. I hope we do a lot more of this in the near future because it was so much fun.

Sauly's Raleigh

Saul got his Raleigh Rowdy mountain bike yesterday and he's already shifting and using the hand brakes. Grandpa got a mountain bike at the flea market last weekend, so we should be hitting the trails soon!

Unreleased Jimmy Page Guitar Riff To Be Retrieved From Secret Vault To Save Rock And Roll

Go Bananas

The boys and I went bananas today. The warehouse full of inflatable bounce houses and slides blinded me with its flourescent lights and colorful rubber toys,while the boys enjoyed flouncing around and pummeling eachother with giant purple logs. I even risked my own life by joining them in a game of King of the Mountain. It was fun.

Tour de California

Seth and I went to the Port of Stockton to watch the Tour de California's third stage begin. We were both very inspired, so we went to New Melones to mountain bike. Seth did so well! I was afraid that he'd fall and not like it, but he was a little mountain goat. Here are the pics.

Downhill !

Sierra, Seth and Saul got to swoop this afternoon at the levee. Tomorrow, we're going to check out the Tour de California from Downtown Stockton where the next stage of the race begins. Should be cool!

Fun With The Cousins

Seth, Saul, Sierra, Jenna, and I went on a little field trip to California Caverns today. The weather was great, so we hiked around New Melones Reservoir on the mountain bike trail afterward. This spot is now about my favorite for mountain biking and hiking, especially this time of year. We should go camping there in the spring. I took quite a few pictures. These are a couple of the best ones. Here is one of me biking there on Saturday.

Super Bowl Sabbath

Last night's Vague Jam honored the weekend's main event, the Super Bowl. Allan came up with Super Bowl Sabbath, and it was the first time he participated with us. He thoroughly rocked, and easily fit in to the group which consisted of John Stoker, Jim Ricks, Kelly Foley, Kevin Duncan, Duncan Atkinson, and myself. Instead of watching the game this afternoon, I brought my classroom into the 21st century by hooking up a laptop to a projector, then rode my road bike out in the country. However, I did record the halftime show starring his highness...Party on!

Tres Hambres

Pat, Kelly and I recorded a couple of discs worth of vagueness on Saturday night. Since it was just the three of us, we called it Tres Hambres with a nod to ZZ Top. Here is the cd cover for it.

Hiking up on Diablo

Sherri, the boys, and I went for a little hike up on Mt. Diablo on Saturday. We went down the Trail Through Time from Rock City, checked out the wind caves, then drove to the observatory at the tippy top to look at the bay and the valley. It was 33 degrees at the top, and very clear. The boys didn't want to leave. They can't wait to go hiking again. I went mountain biking around Hogan Lake yesterday, and that would be a great place to hike with the boys. The bike trail was perfect for me, but I think Seth would freak out being close to the edge and having to maneuver around hairpin turns and boulders. It was scary to imagine him flying down some of the steep parts if he were to be with me on that one. As for walking it, though, that would be very doable. Maybe in May we'll go camp there.

Toadstool Theatre Video

T Vo D Vo T

Here is a cover for the Oy Vague cd, T VO D VO T. I stole the Dolby logo off the website, but I know a guy who works there so it's ok, right Pat?

Post Op Vague

Saul Playing the Drums

New Year, New Belly Button

I finally got my umbilical hernia repaired. My new bellybutton is healing nicely, and I'm kicking the Vicodin without too many withdrawal symptoms. The boys and Sherri are playing with their new toys. I uploaded a drum solo by Saul to You Tube, so look for it soon. Happy New Year!