The American Way

Bachelorette

Ok, I don't usually post stuff like this, but Reddit pointed me to one of Bjork's most recent videos, Bachelorette... and I must say that it's kinda nice. I haven't listened to any Bjork since the early 90's when I was back at Uni, but this song, coupled with this wonderfully scripted video kept me mesmerized for the 5mn that it lasted. It's a sad song, that portrays the dreams that come true only to crumble by a change of life's parameters... the video is an exercise in recursive abstraction... a kind of hall of mirrors into the life of this girl that finds the story of her life in a book that continues to be written buried deep in the woods... you'd have to see the video to understand.

Thought I'd share, in case you haven't seen this.

Julio Iglesias ?

So last night was a blast - about a month ago, we heard that Julio Iglesias was coming to town - and Max said... "We have to go". I myself was never a huge fan of Julio, but I'll be the first to admit that the guy has a voice, and definitely worked a charm on the ladies. So we booked our tickets via the Saratoga Mountain Wineries website. The venue is absolutely gorgeous; the SMW is set on top of the hills overlooking the Silicon Valley and the view is stunning. We had prepared a wonderful picnic for the evening:

• Garlic & Chilli stuffed Olives with caramelized onions !
• Chilled Cantaloupe Soup with Fresh Mint
• Salmon Tartare
• "Gehakt Balletjes !"
• Polenta, Spinach and Parmesan "wedges"
• Brie
• and a nice, chilled bottle of Australian Chardonnay

After the picnic, we headed over to the "Concert Bowl". I had to leave my camera behind, unfortunately. The grounds date from 1852 - Max and I decided that we would come back here for dinner.

Julio was amazing - his voice was the same as I remembered it watching him on French TV growing up. He was hilarious... between every song, he would make jokes about how "when he was young", he would "make the love" to "every girl"... but that now he needs a pill. No, seriously, more funny coming from him than from me ! ;-)

In any case, will definitely come back to the Saratoga Mountain Winery - it's a wonderful venue. Charles Aznavour is coming here in September - we're thinkin' about going, but we heard from Max's parents that he wasn't that great anymore (too old). But I'm thinking - wtf - it's now or never.

Cheers
Shy

The Unauthorized Rolling Stones...

So we went out with friends last night, with the intent on experimenting with another favourite all-american pass time... Pin Bowling. Before heading out there, we decided to grab a bite to eat at a pub called the Brittania Arms. This place is actually pretty neat, and reminds me of the pubs that we used to go to as students when we lived in Brighton... all my favourite British classics were there... from Boddington's (reminds me of the Thursday night curry fest on campus at Sussex Uni... ;-) Richard, if you're reading this, it should bring back some memories) to Newcastle Brown Ale (Alexandre... cela te rappelera du Grapevine...).

Anyway, sat down, had our meal, and found out as we were eating that this band would be playing at around 10pm, called the Unauthorized Rolling Stones. As you've already probably guessed by now, this band covers Rolling Stones songs... what you might not know is that the have a pretty good reputation, and definitely look the part! We were told it might be a good idea to catch them as to see them usually costs 20$, and here we were, with prime seats, infinite supplies of beer at our disposal, it would be a shame not to stay a while and hear them out.

Hmmm. Mistake. ;-)

The band had some problems setting up... they'd fired their previous audio guy (max has the whole story, I'll have to update this blog later to correct it), the mixing system wasn't there, the keyboard was missing... I mean basically it was a total disaster for them. We waited about 2 and half hours before they started playing... and listened to about 2-3 songs. I guess what doesn't help is that I don't like the Rolling Stones all that much.

The most interesting part though about last night was not so much the band, but the audience. Yesterday was people watching bonanza... we counted around at least 6 ladies with upper body enhancements, and folks from all walks of life: academics, IT geeks, Cowboys, Brit-Pop American groupie types, Facelifters, I mean we've never had so much fun people watching.

One particular person, which we'll call Bambi on Ice, was the star of the evening... but that really is a story for another day... which I'll have to tell you when we meet up next!