World Cup - Round of 16 - Shiho Style

Fun Day with Karyl

Stan Bond, Medalist Concert Band

Last Saturday the Medalist Concert Band had a brief show at the Bloomington Farmer's Market.  Here is their excellent trombonist playing "Stardust", which would have sounded better inside where you could actually hear all of his subtle phrasing.  

Sea Salt - Minnehaha Falls

We hit the farmer's market afterwards for some vegetables at a little lunch.  Mine was too spicy for me to finish, but still good.

Karyl

For Date Night we hit Sea Salt where we had some excellent crab cakes and then we wandered over to look at Minnehaha Falls.  Given all the rain we have been having it was roaring.  A bit scary.  Earlier in the week some young man rode a kayak over the Falls and survived.  He had lots of experience in big water, but still not something you want a lot of people doing.

Minnehaha Falls from the top

The Falls from the bridge at the bottom.

The Falls from the bottom

The last couple of shots are around home photos.  The roses are starting to bloom and the cat is loving the summer weather and being able to come and go a bit more.   Life is good.

First roses of the season.

Bubbles lounging.  Fuji#10

Just What I Needed...

Target Field - Section 117

If one definition of a "friend" is someone who leaves you in better shape than they found you, than Jeff Pierce would definitely pass the litmus test as a "friend".  This past week we baked at Target Field as the Astros pounded the Twins.  We took the light rail to the game, which was the highlight of the experience.  Unfortunately after four hours in these seats Jeff's back was quite sore.

On Monday we went by school to pick up some journals that needed grading and then we hit the Once Upon a Crime to load up on good books for the summer.  That evening we were fortunate enough to catch an Elvis Costello show at O'Shaughnessy Auditorium at St. Catherine's in St. Paul.  Elvis was outstanding mixing new and older songs.  Here is my horrible phone picture.    Here is a much better picture from the StarTribune.

Elvis as he really looked.

Elvis Costello at the O'Shaughnessy

A beautiful day at the Low Brow.

On Tuesday we hit the Lakes.  We walked around Lake Harriet and then over to the Low Brow for lunch.  A wonderful lunch provided by Alicia.  For here I hobbled back to the car where we made our what home.

On Wednesday, the highlight of the day was seeing Karyl and Mary Kirby play with Medalist Band at the Pavilion in Como Park.  Fortunately, their music was a lot better than my phone photography.  I brought a camera to this event, but I had no memory card, which made the camera a bit useless.  

Mary Kirby and Karyl at Como Pavilion

On Wednesday we also walked to the Tin Fish for a very scenic lunch.  Again the legs were quite sore by the time we got home that evening.

On Thursday we hit Lake Harriet again and this time we met Erik at his place.  After procuring some  cigars at the Golden Leaf we went to brunch at Butter.  A meal with Erik was wonderful and from there we drove down to the Walker Art Museum for their exhibit on Edward Hopper.  It was impressive to learn that he would make several (as many as fifty) preliminary sketched before he would make a painting.  His painting also have the feeling of being an outsider looking in.  Here are some images from that tour.

Hopper sketched of men - Paris 1905ish

We ended the evening with some ice cream from Sebastian Joe's, which we ranked slightly higher than the sample we had from Izzy's (pre concert) on Wednesday.  Two very good ice cream places however.

Sketches from Paris

Landscape - Massachusetts - I believe

"Office at Night" - I believe is the title - Edward Hopper

We finished Thursday by watching Brazil defeat Croatia to begin the 2014 World Cup.  Oh joy...

On Friday, we hit Lake Harriet one final time before polishing off an eclair from Butter and then heading to the airport.

My problems aren't all solved, but I definitely feel better.  A hat tip to the gentleman from the Emerald City.

Elvis Costello at O'Shaughnessy...Well Done!

Elvis Costello at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul

Elvis Costello weaved quite a tale last night.  This show was very well done.  Costello artfully weaved between new songs and older standards - many of which were played in different tempos or with jazzy twists.

Elvis shared the backstory for a number of tunes - as we learned about his grandfather who played for the White Star Lines before the Depression.  We heard about Costello's father and Costello's own start in the business.

Costello is a first rate guitarist who  seems to float effortlessly between many chords.  He reminds me a bit of a jazz performer who "Never Plays it Straight" - but Costello wanders back to the melody.  Add to this the man's amazing ability to write songs daily - and songs that speak to the heart - and you have a very good show.  Especially when you add that he played for two and a quarter hours.  Well done Mr. Costello.

"Beyond Belief" was there as well "Everyday I Write the Book" but my favorite was when he played "Alison" and sang back and forth with the audience at the end of the song.  What an outstanding evening.

Wow, what a show.  Definitely a top five musical experience.

A First...

Today, for the first time in quite awhile, we took a cat back to the Humane Society. We tried every trick to get this lovable creature to use a litter box on a regular basis, but we had no luck. Karyl did the tough duty and drove for two and half hours to return the suspect. A failed experiment. Sigh.

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It is depressing to learn all the facts about the Dreyfus case, but then books on politics are often disturbing. It is amazing the lengths to which the French went to avoid telling the truth. This is one of the most interesting historical fiction books I have read in a long time. I would give this four paws up.

View all my reviews

Photo: John Minchillo

Last week rallies in Ukraine chased the president Yanukovych out of the capital, and he is now hiding in Russia.  On Friday, last week the Russians sent in troops, tanks, and helicopters to make sure the Crimea remained a place friendly to Russians.

One has to wonder if Vladimir Putin is now the most hated man in Ukraine.  In 2014, can you take over a people who hate you and make the country work.  Yes, Ukrainians need Russian natural gas, and Russia wants to maintain its naval base in the Crimean peninsula, but can this takeover really work?

Has Putin entered another Afghanistan for Russia?  If you have to occupy a people, can it really work?

Photo: Sergei Chuzakov

Looks to me like these people would say, "No."  We shall see.  I am betting this doesn't work out for Russia.