Not So Deep Thoughts

There’s something very special about the San Isidro long weekend.  It’s May.  The weather is just right.  There was another long weekend just two weeks before (The Day of May) when most people took the opportunity to get the heck out of Dodge, and now they’re ready to hang ’round the homefront.  And just the word BBQ makes you salivate.  BBQ.  BbQ. bbQ.

So Vanesa and I marinated a batch of chicken wings, bought a few 6-packs of Bud and headed off to Jacki and Skyler’s lovely terrace for a day in the sun.  Here are some pics.

Spring has Sprung!

Vanesa and I went a little slap-happy at the local greenhouse and brought a little life to our little terrace.  Here are some of the cute little buggers that we’ve brought home… 

Take a gander at our little sanctuary and then go outside and walk barefoot in the morning dew soaked grass, or something equally tree-huggerish.

For my birthday, my friends Jacki and Kelly hooked me up with two tickets to see Andrew Bird in concert last Saturday.  As Vanesa was frolicking around Dublin that weekend, I hit up the concert with Kelly.

I gotta tell you guys, I was a fan of Andrew Bird with or with a concert, but after seeing the guy live, my appreciation for him has skyrocketed.

For those of you who haven’t heard his music yet, he’s a classically trained violinist, an accomplished composer, a verbose lyracist, a good singer and a damn fine whistler to boot.

With all he puts in to each song; wandering harmonic progressions, a varying mixture of random rhythmic structures, layering instruments, etc… that when I saw him amble out onto the stage with just a violin and a guitar on standby, I could only wonder how the hell he was going to pull off getting even half way through one of his songs.

But he showed us.  With the help of various looping pedals, he was able to record one voice at a time, piling voice upon voice, clicking them off and then back on as the song demanded such.  It was really impressive.  And really friggin’ good.

And when in just one concert, you’re reminded at times of the sound of Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Rufus Wainwright and Paul Simon, you know you’re dealing with someone special.

If you’ve never seen him, go see him.   If you haven’t heard of him, buy a CD and then go see him.  Hell, go check him out on YouTube and then go see him, whatever…  Enjoy good music, that’s all.