Eggplant Casino and the Big Sur Drive-By

My trip to Mid-Cal/NorCal ended this week. It was lots of fun, and I think my hosts were the most gracious I'm likely to ever encounter. Endless thanks to Panda and Tink, for allowing me to let it all hang out, waller, and be pretty useless for over a week.

We saw some live music one night, in a small art gallery/showroom somewhere in downtown Berkeley. The band was Eggplant Casino, and their sound is a bit of a gypsy, latin, swing, jazz hybrid. Raucous and lovely. It was so damn good I bought a CD.

The whole band was tricked out in a wonderfully rag tag style, sort of like Wedding Reception About 6 Pints in--this glorious mash-up of waxed moustaches, hats, dinner jackets, and dress slacks. The trumpeter had on a pork-pie hat and a guayabera--looking like a trumpeter should. The sax player was in a  smart suit, sporting a soul patch. The band leader was swinging a six string base and had the sweetest yellow seersucker suit. The violist and lead interpreter (for the band is originally from Yetchnia) is the lovely Sig, over whom I made quite an ass of myself by ceaselessly remarking on her uncanny resemblance to Penelope Cruz. To wit:

Sig was minus the lacerations and abrasions, for the record.

The band had me at "Hell yetch!" and when they closed with the hauntingly hilarious "No cake for you!" I was hooked. As with a lot of bands, their recordings pale in comparison to their live sets, but take a listen if you're interested. It's kind of like if Andrew Bird, Faith No More, Over the Rhine, Bobby Darin, and the 100% Colombian LP had a baby. And that baby played the marimba.

We skootched down to Monterey to see Omey and Mrs. Omey and the Babby C. Happy 1st to Babby C and Happy Anniversary to the parents. Has it really been two years already? Extra bonus points for Panda being in Tour Guide mode and getting to see the grown ups for bit that evening.

While ambling around Monterey, we hit up part of the beach in Carmel. Believe it or not, this was my first dip into the Pacific since moving here. And it was just a toe dip---that water is crazy cold. The beach was littered with an amount and type of kelp I've never seen. There were masses of green, flat, scaly leaves and yards of stem that looked like rubber hoses. And a ton of odd pod shapes hanging off each tendril. Tink summed it up best:  "It looks like an alien exploded on this beach." I feel that H.R.Geger must have had beaches like this near him in his childhood. If I ever get copies from Tink, I'll post the pix.

Panda and Tink reasoned that since we were so close, we should see Big Sur. So we detoured to drive through it, and what an awesome decision that was.

Roadside View.

Like an oil painting come to life.

You're not paying for the drink at Nepenthe. You're paying for the view. Well worth it, too.

Beware the ravens and jays, for they doth stalk the tables and if thou tarry too long with thy muffin, they shall snatch it.

I use to be of the mind that I'd done a fair amount of ranging in my time, in various types of brush. Big Sur showed me that I had only ever dawdled in woods. This is the first true Forest into which I have ever set foot.

I was surprised to learn that Redwoods are firs. And their bark is extraordinary--there's no pitch to it at all. Panda confirmed that not only was it not fit for burning, but that these forests had evolved to withstand fires and use them as a necessary part of their reproductive cycle. Fascinating.

These pictures don't really do it justice, and are no help in trying to convey the size of the things. We could only stop for a very brief walk through part of one of the parks. But even with the unexpected alien terrain, there was still that old familiar tug. That urge to spot the thinning of the trees and wend a way through; to leave the obvious trail for the hint of a less used track; to range and wander.

Our last day was a pleasant mixture of activity and indolence. We supped at the incredible Burma Superstar. If you are EVER anywhere near San Francisco or Oakland, hie thine ass to this restaurant with a quickness and order the Tea Leaf Salad. It is one of the most incredible things I've ever had the delight of tasting.

We rounded out the evening with a viewing of Silverado. Panda nailed it, saying it's not so much as Western as "Lawrence Kasdan's love letter to Westerns." It does contain every Western cliche I could think of, and was tons of fun. The cast includes Kevin Kline, Scott Glen, Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, and Linda Hunt. I hearts me some Kevin Kline, and this movie is just a good popcorn flick all around.

I feel that's quite enough blather for one sitting.