You may have heard that my husband is a musician. He’s been playing music all his life and loving it.
He was in a band when he was younger that made an album and now we get to announce the release of a long awaited 2nd recording!
Bob Ryan does all the song writing and Terry adds instruments to the arrangements. They’ve played at local venues as well as at the Tucson Folk Festival and Sunnyslope Art Walk. They’re anxious to share their love of music with everyone.
On July 23rd I had the extreme privilege of attending a James Taylor concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre just outside of Denver, Colorado. If you’ve never been there, you should make plans to go. There’s just something magical about listening to music outdoors, especially on a cool Colorado summer evening.
James Taylor just happens to be the ONLY musician that I like enough to sign up for his mailing list. He’s so amazing! You know, its not that he’s an outstanding vocalist or flashy instrumentalist (although he sure knows how to put a band together), but his songs come straight from the heart and he’s authentic. Every time I’ve gone to one of his concerts, I feel like I’m sitting in the living room sharing good music with friends. And since my husband is a musician, I really know what that feels like. It’s pure joy!
So, several months ago when I got an email saying that he (James, not my husband) was going on tour and would be playing in Denver, I talked my husband into getting tickets for my birthday (which happens to be in July). Our son lives in Boulder and we knew we’d be going to visit him sometime, so we planned to be there for the concert too…AND since I’m on JT’s mailing list, we were able to get tickets before they went on sale to the public, so we were in row 14! The photo above is from near the top of the amphitheatre. That’s a long way up!
This is the walkway that leads to the seating area. It’s a bit of a hike, but not too bad.
The pics below show our location in relation to the top and to the stage. It was a perfect spot!
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take in my camera, but we did have Kevin’s pocket camera to take these pics. He and his date, Hattie went with us too.
Despite the fact that it looked stormy that night and was a bit blustery, we didn’t have any rain (like they apparently did the following night) and the concert was only affected by wind sometimes blowing through the microphones. Oh, and one of the roadies had to sit next to the drum set to make sure the cymbals didn’t get blown over. (you’ll see that in the video below)
James and his band performed amazingly well considering the distraction from the wind (and potential storm). I did notice though that he’s reminding me more and more of my dad. You see, he’s tall and thin and built like my dad and he’s bald like my dad and this time when JT was “dancing”, with his somewhat awkward moves that make him so endearing, I could totally see my dad. I LOVED it! So he’s not only a wonderful performer, but also a fond reminder of my dad, who passed away over 30 years ago.
Just to give you a little taste of what it was like at the concert I recorded one of my favorite songs, “Sun on the Moon” with Kevin’s little camera. The lighting is way too hot on JT and my hand is a bit shaky, but I love the rhythm, arrangement and the harmonies in this song. And check out the cheers when JT starts “dancing”. Gotta love this guy for his down to earth performances. Nothing flashy or overly choreographed here.
The last pic here is the band taking their bows. It’s hard to tell, but it really is James Taylor and his band.
Funny thing too, we found out later that another couple we know from Phoenix was at the same concert. Only we didn’t find out until after we got home. It was a spectacular night and makes me smile just thinking about it. Wish you could have been there with us!
I hope you had an extra special day with the ones you love! I hope you enjoy these photos of my Valentine Branch. Don’t you just love this sweet little owl. He was a gift from my friend, Sharon. The branch hangs in my living room throughout the year, all decorated for each season.
I also wanted to post a quick note to apologize for being MIA for a while. I didn’t realize how long it’s been. There’s so much to report and there has been so little time to report it.
This past weekend we were in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. It was the first time I’ve been there. The Catfish Hunters did a concert on Saturday night and we had a great time! Pictures to come soon.
More big news and probably a little bit of an excuse as to why I haven’t been on my blog too much. I just received in the mail the book that I created through Blurb.com! It was a (mostly) photo travel book about a trip that I was privileged to take to Israel and Jordan in October with a non-profit organization that I work with. The book is 12″ x 12″ and 200 pages (yes, you read that right). It turned out beautifully if I must say so myself! I’ll have pictures of that and a link soon too!
I also had the privilege of planning a celebration for a dear friend of ours…of course there are photos of that on the way too!
See, I really do have a few good reasons for not being online. Just sorry that it kept me away from all my friends here. See you soon. I promise.
I’m interrupting my stories about Scotland to celebrate my 600th post by doing a little catch up on what’s going on in my life at this moment.
Today I’m in downtown L.A. I’m here to attend BlogWorld Social Media Business Summit & New Media Expo (#BWELA)! I’m really excited about the avalanche of workshops that I will encounter over the next 3 days and can’t wait to get started sorting out which ones I’ll attend in person and which I’ll listen to after the conference.
BUT, before I dive into the conference I wanted to share a little of what inspired me today. You see, not so very long ago I lived in a suburb of L.A. In fact I lived just about 40 miles north of here for 18 years. And while we didn’t come into the “city” frequently, we did have a chance to enjoy the benefits occasionally. I’m not really a city girl, I’m fairly certain that I wouldn’t want to live here, but I love visiting. Something about the soaring skyline and bustling traffic energizes me. I get the feeling that important things are happening here. Deals are being brokered, historic decisions are being made and ideas emerge here that are changing the world.
These are just a few of the things that inspire me about L.A.:
Passing billboards about new TV shows and movies (do you see that in your town?)
Enjoying dinner outdoors in November
Landing on radio stations in 7 or 8 different languages
The city skyline – it’s breathtaking
Exit signs for Little Armenia, and Historic Filipinotown
Realizing that the Pacific Ocean is just minutes away.
Appreciating all the sculptures and great architecture in downtown
Remembering that they have an “all news-all the time” radio station (AM1070). I miss that.
Celebrating the fact that the L.A. Philharmonic plays regularly at two awesome venues – The Walt Disney Concert Hall (see below) and the Hollywood Bowl (one of my absolute favorites). I miss that too.
So here’s how my day went in this inspiring city…
I drove from the Burbank airport this morning and met my daughter and son-in-law for breakfast (which I don’t get to do nearly as often as I’d like). Amy and Andrew are a couple of inspiring people too, but that story will have to wait for another time. I enjoyed a few hours with them, then headed down to the hotel where I’ll be staying for the duration of the conference.
On the way there, I passed the AMAZING, Frank Gehry designed, Walt Disney Concert Hall just a few blocks from the hotel. After checking in, it was such a gorgeous day that I decided to walk there. If you’ve never seen it in person, you really should make a point to go. I would love to take a tour and would especially love to attend a performance there. I understand that the acoustics in the auditorium are nearly perfect. Another fun tidbit is that there’s a small theater and gallery space in one corner of the Hall, called REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater). I used to work at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) when REDCAT was being built and the staff and student body were anxiously awaiting it’s completion, so I have a bit of a vested interest in the place.
Anyway, here are a few photos of this awe inspiring complex.
Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater
The amazing thing is not so much imagining the building, but actually making it come to life with all those curves and waves. It’s spectacular!
While there I stopped in the gift shop because these places are just dripping with culture and creativity. I saw this great T-shirt and a bunch of other inspirational items, but it wasn’t really a shopping day for me, and I can’t really afford a $120 scarf no matter how beautiful it is, so I had to pass on all but a couple of little things that I picked up for Christmas gifts.
L.A. Philharmonic Tshirt
After dinner, I had a chance to go out and play a little with my camera and here’s a fun shot.
Los Angeles Downtown
So now, it’s off to bed to rest up for 3 days of inspiration and information to come.
Have you ever been to Los Angeles? If not, what do you find inspiring about your own town?
In looking for some refreshing summer beverages for the 4th of July, I was reminded of a delicious pitcher of Sangria that we had recently with some friends at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Tucson. If you haven’t visited El Charro Cafe in Old Town Tucson, it’s a place that’s well worth your time. This is a view of the welcoming courtyard. When the weather’s nice (as it is for over half the year in this part of Arizona) it’s the most relaxing place to enjoy dinner or even just a drink with friends.
El Charro Courtyard - Tucson AZ
We happened to be in Tucson for Terry and Bob (aka The Catfish Hunters) to play at the Tucson Folk Festival and we had a chance to enjoy a wonderful dinner here with Bob & Helen.
But I digress. This post is supposed to be about beverages and one of the sweet parts of the evening was our Summertime Blackberry Sangria. Doesn’t it look delicious! I can taste it now. Imagine washing down your chips and salsa with that colorful concoction.
So to bring this full circle. I’ve been enjoying Sangria at a variety of spots this year and thought I’d share a patriotic version and eye-catching recipe for serving a group without having to make individual drinks for everyone.
She used pineapple for her stars, but I think I’d try star fruit since it already has the shape you need. I LOVE the red strawberries, “white” (kinda) pineapple or star fruit, and blue-berries to carry through the patriotic theme. Just imagine your giant glass beverage dispenser filled to the brim with all these summery ingredients. It’s a party waiting to happen. In case you haven’t seen it before, this is what star fruit looks like and here’s some more info about it too. Hey, think about adding star fruit to your salads on the 4th as well!
…now where are the fireworks.
Let me know your plans for the 4th. I’d love to hear how you celebrate.
Stay tuned for parts 2 (food) and 3 (DIY crafts and decorations) for the 4th of July series in the coming days.
O.k., so its clear that you’re probably not getting much inspiration from me lately, but I do have a recommendation for you to check out someone who is a prolific blogger. And this week, she’s running an online Blogging Workshop on “Lemon and Raspberry” called Better Blog Content 2.0. You can find all the details here.
Full disclosure: she happens to be my daughter, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have great stuff to share and to help you in the blogging world. In fact this might just inspire me to start posting again. See, this post is proof that it’s working already. 🙂 I love this picture of her from some recent “outtakes” at her home photo shoot. Note the raspberry lemonade in the photo for her “Lemon and Raspberry” blog. Clever huh?
But, it’s getting more and more difficult for me to choose what to blog about. We just added a few more events to the list. Last week I helped my dear friend, Linda on a photo shoot with her daughter-in-law and granddaughters, which was a blast! I’ll post more on that.
Then I went with my husband and the Ryans to Tucson to hear my husband and Bob perform at the Tucson Folk Festival. I promise, soon I’ll post about that trip, as well as an awesome Mexican restaurant that we visited there. It’s a place that you won’t want to miss if you’re in the Tucson area and are hungry for Mexican food. Stay tuned for all that and more to come.
Thanks for hanging in there with me during this busy time of life.
Unexpected Wonder 