Treasure Island

For my birthday Jessica got us VIP tickets to the treasure island music festival on treasure island, CA. The highlight was the Flaming Lips were closing.



The show wasn't till sunday so we made a weekend of it and went apple picking Saturday. It really made it seem like fall. We picked apples, drank cider and ate doughnuts. It was a little warm, but I'll take that over raining.







Sunday we got to the event early and had a great time looking around the grounds. There was a lot more there then just the music. There was a whole carnival.







I got to see a lot of acts I've always wanted to see. Beirut was great, the Decemberists did a rock opera and the best was the Flaming Lips. It was really our primary reason for going and it did not disappoint. I want to go again.






View Larger Map

Portland

Jessica had a conference last week in Portland and stayed with our friends Kristina and Aaron. It was Columbus day weekend, and getting out of town sounded nice. We managed to pick the last weekend in Portland without rain. Kristina and Aaron were also hosting a couple other friends.



I got there Friday and we went to some bars, Saturday we got up and spent awhile looking for breakfast then spent the rest of the afternoon watching football in the basement. Most of the trip was based around eating and beer tasting.



Sunday we were more productive. It started with breakfast from a waffle stand. Amazing. Then we went to the zoo, which I would recommend. It was really more of a park, with animals. It's in a great location on a hill outside town. From there we went back to the house and grilled out and played Wii on the projection screen.






Monday we ate at the Tin Shack and then went over to Mt. Tabour which is another city park on an old volcano. There was a huge dog park where the dogs had a great time chasing balls. Then we flew back.







I didn't get pictures of everything, but I'm glad I have some because it was a great weekend. Now I'm planning on going back for thanksgiving.


View Larger Map

Hardly Strictly Blue Grass

Last weekend Jessica came down and we went to San Francisco for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. It was my third year in a row and always a great show.

Jessica didn’t get in till late Friday, so we left Saturday morning. We weren’t expecting it to take over 4 hours to get there, but we were wrong. There was tons of traffic everywhere. Also during Saturday was Love Parade and the Cancer walk. I think after getting across the bridge it took us an hour and a half to get near the park, then we had to park.



So we finally made it to the concert at 4. I knew the Old 97’s were playing, but thought I had missed it. We borrowed someone’s schedule and saw they had ten minutes left in their set, so ran over and saw the last two songs. It wasn’t a lot, but still great. Then we saw Richie Havens which was kind of slow, then wandered over to Gillian Welch which was awesome. We wrapped it up with Robert Earl Keen. He’s been there every year and puts on a great show, on my favorite stage.



Sunday we had much better luck with parking and getting to the show on time. We went to Red Wine, also the third time I’ve seen them and probably my favorite act. They are from Italy, but sing bluegrass like Appalachia. If you ever have a chance, see them! Then was The Chieftains, followed by Galactic. Galactic was my favorite surprise of the weekend. We saw the end of Mavis Staples who can still move a crowd after so many years and stayed for the headliner, Old Crow Medicine Show.





A great time. Then it was the long drive back to Reno, across the Sierras that got a couple inches of snow that evening.

New York City 2

I’ve been meaning to post this sooner, but the internet I was stealing at home has quite working. I could just pay for my own, but I’m cheap and might be moving soon. So for the near future, I’ll just have to use it at my gym, coffee shops and bars. It’s nice to have a laptop.

I wanted to have a part two of New York to include pictures of me! Shameless I know, but to often I find myself behind the camera and no real proof I was somewhere. First is this picture from Facebook of the two Canadians I met at a cross walk Sunday night. We had a great time and went to McSorley’s, out for wings and then dancing at an irish bar. Amazing who you can meet on the street.



Then these are from my dad. They are always well done, and more can be found here and here.