Fiesta Numero Tres--Bowling at the Garage

Carrie kept asking me what I wanted to do on my birthday. I kept telling her nothing special. Perhaps play pool as usual and go to dinner with the group. After revisiting the topic several times, it struck me. I want to go bowling. I love bowling and with a good group, it stands to involve and entertain. So, without further adieu, here the  bowling pictorial:

                   With Steve: 

       Rowan and Neil:  

             Margaux and Tim:       

       Rowan, Neil and Mike:

                   With Tim, Marge, Carrie and Andy:

Rowan:

               Enjoying one:

       Rowan getting into place:

                         Taking names...

Kicking some ass...

        Andy:

                  Neil getting into character:

Andy leading the league...

       The monochrome crew...Marge, Brent, Brigit

              Yup yup:

Mike and Rowan concentrated on bowling score (or Celtics, Mike?)

        Neil, Corinn and Rowan

  

          Carrie, Chris and Nickel:

Post-bowling dinner @ Piecora's

Post-dinner post-party @ King Cobra

Andy w/ Danzig Wannabe Pretending Not-to-Wanna-Be

Fiesta Numero Dos en Chicago

As I mentioned in my previous post, I didn't plan a party to ring in my birthday. Instead, I planned a trip to visit my family in Chicago. I only stayed for a brief five days but it eventful.

Baby Bro and his girlie treat picked me up at the train and whisked me to the beloved Burrito House restaurant on Lincoln Ave., where you can order authentic Mexican food. We got take out and headed back to my parents' place.My brother rushed upstairs ahead of us and when I got there, they presented me with a beautiful birthday cake--made by Brian and decorated by Michelle.

 

We indulged in a little celebration, complete with dinner from Burrito House, cake and gifts. Later that night, we indulged in a round of WII Bowling. They created an avatar to match my likeness. I came a little bit uncomfortably close to the television a few times, but what a blast!

Michelle had to work in the morn, so she was leaving and dropped us off in her Roscoe Village neighborhood where lived the 90s.

I had a chance to visit with Tiffany, which is never dull!

From Michelle's place, Brian and I walked past an old apartment of mine on Melrose. I hardly recognized my old street from all the new construction. Does it ever stop? I thought Seattle was going overboard in this department, but Chicago seems to be keeping pace.

We started off at a place called Belly's. It was a sports bar with an edge. We had pints of Blue Moon Belgian White. Not much of a beer lover, I was surprised by its flavor and had another pink. We headed down the street to Tavern 33. It was dive-y just the way I like my drinking establishments. We stayed for a bit before heading to Johnny's place, an unmarked former speakeasy where we had our last drink of the night.

We headed back home on the El. I miss the tremendous transportation system in Chicago. But, you are where you are. I'm sure I'd miss the market, the Crest, the mountains if I left Seattle.

 

Birthday Fondue at the Melting Pot

Fondue is entices me with its kitsch charm. It's also makes for a fun group outing. When I was lived in Chicago, I never made it to the premier fondue joint, Geijas Cafe. Instead, I indulged my cravings at the Fondue Stube. The name charmed me. The place was (and probably still is) nestled in a residential neighborhood, not far from where I attended high school.

In Seattle, the only fondue place I know of is the Melting Pot. I'd never tried it...until my birthday this year. As long as I can remember, I have I loved the time leading up to my birthday. The night before is almost like Christmas and I don't mean the gifts aspect, but rather the excitement of your day. It's special! In my adulthood, I have continued the b-day party ritual. Planning is fun...theme, location, food. But, it is a lot of work and as the biggie approached, I realized I didn't have it in me this year. And, unlike years past, the eve prior to the big day, I found myself feeling melancholy. In spite of the large numbers I'm pulling, I still feel young and vibrant, but the digits betray me.

When Kristi suggested it for the next Girls' Night Out/My Birthday outing, everyone was on board. Once we were there that night, reviewing the menu at the Melting Pot, it was one decision after another; not an easy thing with six. The menu was a tome--many  pages, menus within the menu and options. I'm used to fondue being easy. This took some negotiating and took a bit of time.

Following are are some decisions we faced: do we get individual entrees, order the full-course menu, share options off the menu for two. There were six of us, which didn't make this any easier. Since none of us has ever been, we were unsure about portion size. We wanted to start with a cheese appetizer...that presented us with six or seven choices. We ended up with the Caribbean Cheese Fondue ("Gouda and Gran Queso cheeses blended with fresh garlic and sweet and spicy Peppadew peppers topped off with scallions and a zest of fresh lime") and a Wisconsin Cheese combo which knocked our socks off. It's making me salivate just thinking about it.

Next decision: entrees. Because there were six of us and two sets were couples, Kim and I ended up, by default, a couple. All the "couples" decided on the Fondue Feast which included filet mignon (yum), jerked sirloin (yum yummers, vanilla rum chicken (boring), marinated pork tenderloin (yum), peppered shrimp (yum yummers), butternut squash ravioli (boring) and fresh veggies (broc, mushrooms). In retrospect, the six of us could have easily shared two couple orders, for we had lots of raw leftovers. We also had to decide if we wanted for the cooking base, oil or broth. We went with a "specialty" broth (Coq Au Vin was amazingly delish) but we had to shell out an extra $8 for it, which seems nitpicky. However, we could have picked the regular broth or oil for no additional charge.

Finally, we had dessert fondue to settle on. I think it was the most awaited course of the night. It was a difficult choice to make (again about seven options) but we decided on the the Original (milk chocolate with crunchy peanut butter) and the Flaming Turtle (milk chocolate, caramel and chopped pecans, "flambéed tableside"). The latter was the ultimate favorite IMHO.

Thanks to my generous friends for a wonderful birthday treat. Thanks to our good pal Jeff and his tenacious skills with the I-Phone calculator. No outing would be the same without J to tabular our individual bills. This one being particularly difficult plus a little drink in the gullet added an additional 45 minutes to an hour where he rolled up his sleeves to wrangle the bill (with some help from Kristi).

Fridays @ The Garage

Fridays are exciting for obvious reasons, but when Friday begins with happy hour and pool at the Garage, the weekend is off to a terrific start. The pool crew have been meeting Friday pool for years. Sometimes, Friday draws an assortment of folks and surprises, but the regulars are almost always there and they are as follows:

Andy Nystrom, aka "Baryshnikov."

I dubbed Andy the ballerina. He's not on board with my nickname. but he's patient and a great sport.

But, the way Andy plays and shoots the balls, giving them a graceful roll is magic on the green. Andy always makes his crucial shots..."crucial" being the operative word.

Mr. Nystrom plays (and lives) by the following creed: "anything for the game."

Andy's partner of choice is Carrie R (pictured below). Carrie dubbed herself "the pool bitch." Carrie is a fierce competitor. If you've ever seen her play pool or have ever played her, you know Carrie despises losing. She often considers "impaling someone with a pool cue whenever she loses," however, she *always* thinks twice.

Steve White (pictured above), another keen competitor, is quiet but cunning. He eyes the shots and goes the distance. He attributes this to growing up with a pool table (I say unfair advantage!). Steve is more humble than his skills portray.

"If I played as good as I should, I'd never lose, but sometimes I don't play as hard as the others."

Tim Sweeney and Margaux Guidry just became engaged on a recent trip to Hawaii. (Check out their tans.)

They usually play as teammates. Tim is a man of few words but when he does utter them, they are often full of humor. That said, there were no funny words during my mini-interview and he said he didn't want a pool profile to which I uttered his old nickname Mr. Grumpy Pants. (Sounds lame but it's actually funny.)

Margaux, on the other hand, had quite a bit to contribute. Marge considers herself a rookie as compared with the rest of the crew, but getting stronger and strong as each week goes by. Marge's pool goal: to be the 8-ball nailer on each personal team. Marge favors solids: "Pool is like life to me...I try to live a solid life as I go for the solids."

Mike, the "Pool Professor," is the player with the focus--no fooling around on his watch.

Dislikes: long pool games, side conversations when you should be shooting (thus creating long pool games) and flash photography while players are shooting.

Last year, Carrie and Andy started a rumor that Mike hated swearing, but I later discovered this to be an urban legend.

The Prof is a pool talent and he happens to be my usual pool partner. This creates quite a bit of stress for me as I have to focus and make shots to keep him on a winning team (doesn't happen as often as it should). But, the sweat and frayed nerves are worth it!

Marge and blog author pictured above.

Sons and Daughters @ Neumo's (April 29, 2008)

I've been waiting for Sons and Daughters to play Seattle for a long time. I missed them last time 'round and I was vigilant as not to let it happen twice. So, as Tuesday the 29th of April approached, I was pumped and ready to party on a typically quiet school night.

My posse on Tuesday was composed of, from left, Andy Nystrom, Carrie R, and Chris Griffin. When I asked Carrie and Andy to go to the show, they asked me to describe the music but it was difficult and I was unable to do it well.

During the show, Carrie asked me why I didn't just describe the band as "Siouxsie meets Missing Persons with Hugh Grant on guitar?" Kudos, Carrie...nice shot.

Carrie, Andy and I started the night with a drink and a few rounds of Monster Mash at King Kobra, across the street. We headed to Moe Bar and met up with Chris.

This is Justin, the doorman at Moe Bar on Tuesday. As you can see, Justin is a professional as evident from his serious demeanor, but a friendly guy. He said the patrons at Moe Bar make his job very easy. (FYI, Justin cracked a smile when he saw this photo.)

Sons and Daughters sire from Glasgow, Scotland. The band are Adele Bethel (vocals, guitar, piano), David Gow (drums), Ailidh Lennon (bass, mandolin, piano) and Scott Paterson (vocals, guitar) (Scott uncannily resembles Hugh Grant). They're touring their new album The Gift. I'm most familiar w/ their sophomore effort, The Repulsion Box, which is a fantastic offering.

In 2006, the band got a place in Adfern (on west coast of Scotland) sans TV and telephones and practiced in a converted barn for eight hours a day working on what would become The Gift.

At night, the band played hard with poker and drinking. I didn't know this until after the show but watching them, you feel their energy and their connection. Some bands lack that vibe (Ladytron, I hope you are listening), but Sons and Daughters not only have it but they gave a memorable performance to boot.

The show kicked off with a song from Repulsion Box. (I suck at remembering song titles so I can't tell you the name).

To my surprise, many songs off Repulsion Box made it into the set.

 

Adele danced around in her Patty Smith Band tee modified into a dress.

She had a Cleopatra-like necklace and gold arm warmers to match the sparkly tights.

 

 

Ailidh was cool as bassist in black. Simple back dress and subdued. The drummer played HARD. He strung it all together. While Hugh Grant completed the quad, he had quite a moment when he pointed to a fan and said he looked like Kurt Cobain. Adele told him not to be typical and Hugh Grant piped back, "But, he does." (He did.) They played an energetic set with an encore. They made it quite worth it, playing for the Tuesday night show as if it were Friday night.

 

While I was waiting to buy a tee, I chatted with this guy who was drinking Rainier beer, which he mentioned is his favorite...so much so, he got himself a Rainier brand R tattooed on his neck. (Yes, it's permanent.) Wow.

 

 

 

Here's a close-up of Scott and Ailidh doing double duty at the merch table. The band finished their encore, put down their instruments and Scott and Ailidh headed right to the merch table to sell some stuff.

Love them!