Lightchaser’s Neighborhood

Remember

Originally uploaded by Cap'n S

Thank you

I was 18 years old and walking home to my apartment on Franklin Avenue in Boise from work as a waiter at Plush Pippin on State Street. As I zipped along the street, Eric, who was Wendy Belcher's boyfriend (my first boyfriend Jerry and I lived with her), was playing football in the field at Boise High and he saw me passing at shouted out: "The Wall fell down, maaaaaan! Those Germans are freeeeee!"

This past weekend, I drove down to NC to meet my wee nephew for the very first time.

On Saturday, my sis and her hubby put on a picnic for family and friends down at Topsail Island.

He was also christened today and put on quite the show - nice waterworks, indeed! :)

 

It was a big day for Penny yesterday as she completed and graduated from her Family Dog I class.  For the past month and a half or so, we’ve been working on sitting and staying and heeling and coming when called – all the things that are needed to be a good dog citizen.
 

I will have to say that Penny didn’t really love the classroom environment, because she couldn’t quite conceive of a place where there were half a dozen nice dogs and that she wasn’t supposed to play with them.  What else could they be there for???
 
Still – when called on to do her series of behaviors, I have to say that she did really really well and passed with flying colors.  After the final class, there was a little graduation ceremony and all the dogs received their diplomas to everyone’s cheers, though I’m pretty sure Penny was everybody’s favorite (not that I’m biased or anything).
 
After the class, Penny got an extra treat and then got to go play with her BFF Roxy the Vizsla at dog beach.  They ran and ran and ran together and just had a great old time.
 

Afterwards, we all tramped over to a dog-friendly café in Del Mar for a late breakfast, relaxing well into the early afternoon over good food, pleasant conversation and tired pups.
 
Good job, Penny!

1. I'm Not In Love - 10cc (The Very Best of 10cc 1997)
   

   I'm Not In Love

   10cc
2. Sex Changes - The Dresden Dolls (Yes, Virginia 2006)
   

   Sex Changes

   The Dresden Dolls
3. Sunday - Bess Rogers (Decisions Based On Information 2007)
   

   Sunday

   Bess Rogers
4. Stop And Think It Over - Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles (Diamonds in the Dark 2007)
5. Joanni - Kate Bush (Ariel - A Sea Of Honey 2005)
   

   Joanni

   Kate Bush
6. A&E - Goldfrapp (Seventh Tree 2008)
   

   A&E

   Goldfrapp
7. Kings And Queens - Loudon Wainwright III (A Live One 1979)
   

   Kings And Queens

   Loudon Wainwright III
8. 1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson (Rumor And Sigh 1991)
   

   1952 Vincent Black Lightning

   Richard Thompson
9. Sweet Bird Of Truth - The The (Infected 1986)
10. Every Passing Day - Goanna (Oceania 1985)
    

    Every Passing Day

    Goanna

A mostly modern set this time around, with a few new wave classics thrown in for good measure. The 10cc song is a favorite from my high school years. The album (yes, children, I originally bought it on vinyl) it comes from (The Original Soundtrack) was a real favorite of mine at the time, although I can't say as I'm too thrilled with the other songs from the disc on this greatest hits CD. Oh well, tastes change. The Dresden Dolls are (were???) one of my favorite groups, local or otherwise, and Amanda Palmer is one of the cleverest musicians around. And Yes, Virginia is their strongest effort. Bess Rogers is a another wonderfully clever artist originally unveiled to me by W♥M, and this is a nicely syncopated song. I went Sarah Borges crazy when their second CD, The Stars Are Out, came out and I picked up Diamonds too. A local group who I have yet to see, sadly. I'm sure she puts on a whale of a show. I've been a huge Kate Bush fan since the early 80s, when I worked with a real Kate fanatic who went so far as to celebrate "Kate-mas", her birthday (July 30th). It was so great to have some new Kate stuff, after a very long wait (12 years!). Ariel is a fantastic double CD. Hmm, looks like it is also a female artist random 10, as we follow it up with my favorite cut from Goldfrapp's 2008 release. Ah, but then back to the wryly ironic in Loudon Wainwright. I've see him in concert a few times and he never disappoints (and never plays Dead Skunk). I was disappointed to find that Black Lightning wasn't on the 3 CD Richard Thompson retrospective, Watching The Dark. It's still a great collection, but Black Lightning should have been on it. It's a great story from a great storyteller. Speaking of storytellers, we move onto The The's Matt Johnson, who can certainly tell an intense story, as he does here. And finally, another song from my Oceania CD, bought in Australia. This is one of my favorite songs of all time, even.

Also picked up a couple of new CDs this week. First up is a local group called Passion Pit. I heard a good song on WZBC coming home from hockey and figured out it was either Passion Pit or Magic Magic. Then I saw Passion Pit's latest CD for only US$6 at Newbury Comics, so I thought it was worth a gamble. Unfortunately, it wasn't the right one. It turned out the great song I heard was from Magic Magic,and was their Over Your Heart song, which is really good.  Passion Pit is okay, with this song being the highlight of the CD:

But even better is the Tyondai Braxton CD, Central Market. I've already introduced you to Opening bell here, but another excellent song is the centerpiece, an over 10 minute opus of modern orchestral pop:

Quiet days. Mildly depressed as I always seem to be every November what with a long cold winter ahead of us. 

Xkcd is usually pretty good -- but this is genius.

Happy Friday!

One of the nicest people I know is Cathleen McLain. I went to her birthday party this year, and people who have known her for month or decades all said the same things: "This is how you helped me out Cathy, this is how you supported me, this is what a great artist you are" Oh yes, they also said she was a crazy woman in the nicest possible kind of crazy, which is even better as far as I'm concerned. :P

Someone was very not nice to Cathy today. That offends me, especially as she took time out of a day when she was tired and busy to help me out. She's helped me out in so many ways - introducing me to the best shows in the state, paying my way for some of them as I got established living in a new place, and getting me into some very good shows at the last minute last year. She's bailed me out financially when I got into a bad space, and gave me groceries this week because I'm struggling a little in this transition time between the two jobs, and after the furlough I had to have last month in my current job.

Apart from everything else, she just makes the most gorgeous art. I love her paintings, and I swear I'll own some of her jewelry one day, just as soon as I get promoted into a better paying position at my new job.

For the moment though, the best thanks I can think of is to show you her amazing work. You should head off to her etsy shop and see what she has around. If you are in Connecticut, we'll both be at Open Studio at the Hartford ArtSpace November 14 and 15.

Especially check out her wonderful pins with the converter to change them into a pendant. They are just awesome!!!!

So if you're a pretty nice person, and ever had someone be unjustifiably horrid to you, take your revenge right now. Support the wonderful, generous, fantastic artist (and beautiful friend) - and buy some of Cathy's jewelry, or just leave a comment here telling her how great she is (she drops by this blog, she'll see it). :D