Tis' The Season



Ahhh... it's been a nice week off from work. Just relaxing. Enjoying the holiday. Doing a lot of eating (highlight Niki's family's annual homemade Christmas tamales....today's chili I made this afternoon).

Last night I got pretty wasted at the Four Eyes Christmas show... It was cancelled last year due to the demise of the loft, where it had taken place for who knows how long. I think Guphys place captured the vibe just fine. Too bad she's moving out of that place. Stupid dog haters. Sorry no pictures this time around.

One funny thing that happened over the break is that I tweaked my back super bad (ha ha!)...not from lifting free-weights, running, basketball, kick boxing or any of that other crap I've been doing. No, after pulling Ira up to Winn park in his new Radio Flyer wagon, we were headed home. AS we got to our street, I was feeling confident that Ira would think it would be pretty fun if I picked up the pace, so I started running down the street, wagon in tow. He was laughing his little head off, but by the time we got to our house, my back was killing me. For two days I couldn't sit more than a few seconds without being in excruciating pain. I was poppin' the vicodin like I was at the movies eating junior mints, just so I could function. By day three I had enough, so I asked Niki to walk on my back. I laid on the floor, and she proceeded to walk down my spine....*POP!* I stood up and felt great... I was cured! A couple hours later I went for a little 4.5 mile run.

BUSTED!!!that's not morning star bacon!

Holiday show tomorrow night. There is supposed to be a picture of Baby Grand in the Bee today or tomorrow with an article talking about it.

Time to run (literally!)

Good Times Bad Times





Good Times:

An album that began the recording process years ago is done and just about for ready for public consumption.

Another album that began the recording process less years ago is almost done being recorded...I think.

Christmas show on Dec 21st at Old I. All procedes from all bands and the door go to The Sacramento Children's Home on Sutterville Rd

Bad Times:

The joke used to be "hey we should sell a t-shirt that says 'I'm in Baby Grand' since there are so many people in the band...ha ha funny". Now we are the incredible shrinking band. Another one down!

Culinary Genius - Limon Toasted Almonds


I thought up this while laying in bed last night...

Procedure:

1. Take a handful of almonds and toast them on both sides in a cast iron skillet


2. Transfer toasted almonds to a small bowl


3. Toss almonds with some lemon and/or lime juice and some kosher salt (or crushed sea-salt)


4. With the heat still off, transfer almonds back into skillet to evaporate moisture


5. Enjoy (while still warm!)

SHOW!!!FUNNN!!!




and don't forget the indie-craft thing going on down the street!

I Love New York Pt 2 = Depressing



Last night's episode was more like an episode of Dr. Phil than the ghetto reality television I constantly crave.

What was once 1.5 seasons of trashy fun has now gotten depressing. Seriously. I even had a dream about it last week.

Bummed.

In other news:

In two weeks time, a new batch of "U street Brew" will be ready for consumption ( although I should reveal the fact that I had a little help from V street).

UV Brew?

Talk about the Weather/You were in my favorite band


I want it to be cold. Go away heat. I have a batch of brew to make!!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember that band Rocketship? Someone made me a CD with a ton of mp3s on it. One of the tracks on it is a live rendition of "Naomi and Me". It just popped up on my iPod. What a friggin' great song. Ahh.... the good ol' days when Sacramento was full of melody.

that's more information that I needed to know




So last night my dad calls to say "hi". This time he forgoes the details of his dating life that always goes something to the effect of "...I'm dating this Jewish woman who I met at the gym [in the retirement community where I live], but she's too old for me...." or "...I'm seeing this woman, who is Jewish, but she complains all the time..." or "...I'm dating this lady, but she's Catholic...." You get the picture. Excuse after excuses.

Anyhow...

So last night he didn't mention any of his love life to me (thank goodness) but instead he told me about one of my uncles (his brother), who had to get 20 prostate stones removed. Prostate stones? 20?!?!? wtf man! I never even heard of such a thing, but this isn't the part that bothered me. I can stomach body part talk.

After hearing the nitty gritty details of the operation, and being informed that my uncle would be fine, I was trying to speculate what could have cause such an ailment while talking to my dad. His diet? heredity? weight? Then out of the blue my dad says "well, my brother is a big man..." and he is. He's probably the fattest relative I know of...and then my dad went on... "..maybe I shouldn't discus this with the family, but my brother does have a very large penis...it's huge...so maybe that could have caused complications..." ok ok dad. enough!!

The last thing I need to think about is my obese, more-than-somewhat weirdo uncle's wiener... and to beat you smart allec readers to the punch, no, nothing weird ever happened between my uncle and I. I barely even saw the guy when growing up.

OK. time to stop now. Have a good weekend!

Sometimes you feel like a noob...




So I spent all this time and money (and loss of sleep and social activity) to get a Computer Science Degree from UC Davis, got a job with a large technology company, and have been on a number of complex projects doing a number of complex things, for over 6 years...yet I can't get my niece's printer to work.

Homemade Bagels

Homemade bagels
Originally uploaded by bugbiteme

So after moaning and groaning about bagels, I decided that if biblical genealogy is true, then, as a direct descendant of Moses (played by Charlton Heston in the movie "The Ten Commandments") I should have innate ability to make my own. As you can see from the picture displayed in this post, my hunch proved to be correct. I was able to feed 7 out of 12 tribes (tribes of: Ander, Hawley, Hull, Raske, Beardsly, Baker, Keller, and of course Levites...the remaining five tribes were no-shows) after doubling the recipe.

I going to do my best to make them on a weekly basis so I can stick it to the man (they really aren't that hard to make if you have a Kitchen-Aid mixer with the hook attachment).

Coming up: "Making my own cream cheese....the kind Abraham used to eat back in the day while herding sheep in the land of Cannan..."

Baby Riblet.
Originally uploaded by riblet

In case you haven't noticed, I've been blogging a little more than usual this week. Well, my boss, who sits right across from me, who can look right at my desk at any given moment, is gone for the week, so I don't have to pretend like I'm working the whole time I'm here.

Also, believe it or not, more than zero comments lets me know I'm not typing into a black hole, thus giving me inspiration to inform you all (whether it's useful information or not, that's up for debate...not really, it is all useless information...who am I kidding?).

I figured I'd complete the week with yet another picture of Heylove. This is old-school Heylove from back in the day.

Next Month she will be three and Ira will be one. Niki and I are trying to think of what to do for the duel birthday party. Chili cook off? I was even playing around with the idea of making tamales, but that's a lot more work than making a big-ass pot of of chili....and a cake!

Sleeping in
Originally uploaded by riblet

Just as a follow up measure, I've been taking extra care to make sure my feet stay spiffy clean by changing my socks twice throughout the day...(thanks for all your concern commentors)

Heylove's been dong fine. Like nothing ever happened. Maybe she was sleepwalking after a bad dream...who knows.

------------------------

Last night Niki and I tried Kaveri for some Southern Indian cuisine. It didn't seem much different than any other Indian food I've had, so I checked with a co-worker (who comes from S.India) and it turns out that we pretty much blew it by ordering the Kung-Pao of Indian food (Channa Masaala) when we should have tried the dosas and/or an order of idli. Next time!!!! (which I hope is soon!)

Brisket!!

Brisket!!
Originally uploaded by riblet

Last night I made an emergency run to the vet at about 1am.

Around midnight or so Heylove woke up (from her bed next to our bed) and it was a bit cold, so I decided to let her lay on my feet under the covers (one of her favorite sleeping spots btw), but she started acting freaky, like she was scared of something (my stinky feet maybe?). I put her down and she looked super confused and backed herself into a corner. She settled down a couple times, but kept on freaking out. No yelping, no barking or growling, she just looked scared. She wasn't lethargic and she would eat treats, but it freaked me and Niki out, so we called the Pet Emergency Room on El Camino.

Heylove was still acting bizarrely in the car ride to the vet, but as soon as we got there, she was back to her original spaz/face-licking self. I couldn't confirm if she ate anything bad, so all the vet could do was run some blood tests, which came back fine.

Well after 3 am they let us go home and Heylove was OK...and still is as of this morning.

DOG!!!!!

A bagel is a bagel



Sorry. Sorry to you all. I've been touting the Bella Bru bagels as good bagels all this time. After my trip to New York, I am completely repulsed by them.

At first I was thinking "now I gotta find some good bagels in Sacramento", but this morning my carpool partner suggested that I not even try to kid myself, and I'm thinking he's right.

Pretty...Pretty...Good

My sister has on-demand HBO, so I'm going to her house tomorrow to watch the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm!!

Back in "The Sac"



I bet you guys didn't even know I was gone.

I had a fantastic time in NYC: Went to a great wedding (dance scene from reception pictured above), saw friends, family, visited parts unknown (The Bronx, Harlem, Brooklyn), saw some celebs, ate quite a bit of pizza and bagels and enjoyed the weather. Expect pics on Niki's flickr soon...I hope!

I got a really good workout carrying I. in his stroller up and down the subway staircases, which was great for working off the excessive carb intake.

When it comes to baked good, New York takes the....umm...cake!

the number 12

11 Guys At The Playground


Basketball is my favorite sport. I like the way they dribble up and down the court. Call me a "fair weather fan", but the only time I actually watch a game on TV is when the Sacramento Kings are going to win. Needless to say, I haven't watched basketball in quite a while.

Since the Kings suck, and will remain sucking until further notice, I like to spend my free evenings playing the game. It's fun, but there are always those dudes who show up. I bet I'm one of them. Call me Mr. Excuses.



11 Guys At The Playground - Watch more free videos

Melody Day

How can we be a "world class" city when we have "no class" public transportation?


Faced with a budget shortfall and a surprising ridership dip, Sacramento Regional Transit officials are expected to cut service on 15 bus routes countywide today.

Surprising? Not really. This really strikes a nerve with me, in a big way. It's almost like RT is sabotaging itself.

Next month I plan on flying the family out to NYC. I don't plan on renting a car at all. I plan on riding the subway the entire time. We are staying in Manhattan, going to a wedding in Brooklyn, going to the zoo up in the Bronx (why is it called "the Bronx" and not just "Bronx"), among other places, and I know it will be a breeze.

That's what makes a world class city!

Get a friggin' clue bitches!!! Better (aka useful) RT service will increase ridership, not cutting and crapifying (even more) our current system.

uggh...

Ok, I'm done now. Go watch the video posted below above. It's good.

Set your alarm clocks!!



via The Daily Green

Weekend Summary


beer
poker
massive quantities of food
strippers
beer
gambling on horse races
working on cars
playing rock n' roll
changing diapers
beer


It doesn't really get better than that...well maybe if "getting laid and shooting guns" was added to the equation.

Thinking positive



Got my amp, everything is good. I love it. As soon as I saw it out of the box and put together, I knew that Tim would be jealous. I'm sure he's happy that I'm no longer abusing his bass amp. I'm still borrowing his P-Bass, but that's another story.

So, I look forward to seeing everybody this Sunday evening at Old Ironsides where Baby Grand will be performing songs by the Kinks (as will all other bands playing that evening). This will be the last Baby Grand show until December AND *sniff sniff* our last show with Chris Olsen *sniff stiff*...*holding back the tears* (How did someone who I initially found completely annoying become one of my favorite peep? I will miss you dude.)

Mr. Jed Brewer will be participating that night as a solo acoustic act covering the Kinks.

Come see us both!

I took down my Tony Soprano post because I thought it came across too negative. In the long term, when the movie of my life is being made, I want to hide the fact that I can be a jerk sometimes.

I was a mii before you was a mii


I keep on having ideas in mind for what I should blog about next, but lo and behold, by the time I get to work, and my boss goes "Hey Leon..can I talk to you for a second...so I got this email......so they want....and so I was wondering if you could...by this date...and then....our people will talk to their people...with the latest firmware upgrade....code named....this message will self destruct..." my mind goes blank and goes into binary mode and I just think to myself "01001001001000000111011101101111011011100110010001100101011100100010000001110111
01101000011000010111010000100000010010010010000001110011011010000110111101110101
01101100011001000010000001100101011000010111010000100000011001100110111101110010
001000000110110001110101011011100110001101101000"

Bogart the Joint


Baby Grand, it our grand scheme of playing just about every weekend in Sacramento and not letting anyone else get the spotlight, and never saying "no" to a show offer, has decided to yet again, play another awesome show this weekend:


The Finches


The Bushes


Baby Grand

AT




The Press Club

Sunday afternoon at 4pm!!!

Awwww



So I'm not sleeping, just trying my best to hide my double chin in this photo.

My dad came to town this weekend. Niki and I were trying to decide on what do to the whole time while he was here.

After picking him up from the airport we got lunch at Bernardo's. For a while I was through with that place, but lately it's become one of my favorites.

Then we took Ira to get his first haircut which worked wonders for him later than night when we had dinner at Maaloufs. He was mesmerized by the belly dancer that came out mid-meal, and she seemed to be into him too. He kept turning his head to follow her around, and she was having a hard time not laughing while dancing. I felt bad, cuz we didn't have any cash to put into her bra. The food was amazing.

Next day we went wine tasting at Bogle. I was kind of hoping there would be more going on there....like food or something. The wine was pretty good, but not mind-blowing or anything, but what do I know? My dad only liked the sweet wines. I picked up a bottle of the zin and petite syrah reserves.

Next day we got lunch and headed to the river. I think it would be fun to go there more often, maybe during the week when it's not so crowded. You can hike just a little bit down from the main beach and have a little cove all to yourself.

I always leave my heart in San Francisco



SF is my favorite city. I've been to cities all over the planet, and nothing comes close to it.

Anyhow, I ate too much food (a list of all the stand out places I went to over the weekend), got to see friends, and finally checked out the SF MOMA (I felt like I was meeting a celebrity when I was looking at some of the famous paintings).

We took Ira on BART one evening on our way to the Mission. It was more of a trial run than anything else. We plan on going to NYC in a few months...so we needed to see what it was like to bring the baby on public transit. Besides all the broken elevators and a bit of confusion with the ticket system, it was fine, and plus NYC doesn't have elevators in the subway stations as far as I can remember.

I moved



Not that posting a blog on the world wide internet gives you any privacy, but I don't really care to advertise the URL. It's not like I have any secret juicy gossip that I post, I just like to keep things low key.

Anyhow, if you are one of the lucky few who found me, congratulations!

Here are some pics from my hike to the Lock Leven Lakes over the weekend.

Later!

Gettin tan on the 4th





Hope everybody had a good 4th o' July!

The Rock sings a song about Sacramento

Don't hold your wee, just have a bit of patience



Following words of advice from Axle Rose, I just decided to wait until I had that gut feeling, and it paid off! Sunday morning I could feel it. I could just sense that wii waiting for me at the Natomis Best Buy (the one that no one goes to), and I was right. AS soon as we pulled up, I saw store patrons walking out, wii in hand, so Niki shoved me out of the door and told me to get my butt in there while she found a parking space.

Lo and behold, I walked up to the first BB sales person and asked for it, and they had ONE LEFT! FOR MEEEEEE. They only had nine in stock that morning. I got the last one.

The rest of the weekend ruled: Friday night dinner at Maaloufs (Ira got to see his first belly dancer), killing at the 80's cover show, vegan dim-sum at Josh P's, Tim and Gerri buying Zelda's pizza for band practice.

and in the spirit of yelp: minus one star for missing the Canadian style birthday party.


our perpetual kitten (named mouse) waiting to play the new wii

Dear Lovely Rita



I think I am too nice in this letter

June 22, 2007

City of Sacramento
915 I Street
Room 1214
Sacramento, CA, 95814

To Whom It May Concern:
I would like to request an Administrative Investigation to contest parking citation no. 47773121. The citation claims that my vehicle (CA license plate #######) does not have a valid O parking permit, when in fact the vehicle does (O parking permit number #####). I had received this citation while my car was parked in front of my residence at blah blah blah Street, Sacramento California, zipcode on June 19, 2007.

Please note that I had received the same violation three times now! Once in August of last year and one as recent as last month! All citations were cleared since I do, in fact, have a valid O permit, which is clearly visible on my rear bumper. I would appreciate it if the parking enforcement officers patrolling my neighbourhood (which they seem to do at random intervals) would cease writing me erroneous citations.

Thank you for taking time to investigate this citation, and please let me know if you need any further information from me or anyone else concerning this matter.

Sincerely,
Me

Since I went through all the trouble deciphering the lyrics...I'll post them (need to work on chords next)




jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle
tickle tickle tickle tickle
little saka sugar I could eat you up
jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle
pickle pickle pickle pickle
little saka sugar I could eat you up



hey hey hey
little saka sugar
ho ho ho
my little saka sweet
he he he
my pretty little angels
pretty pretty pretty
I could eat your feet




hey hey hey
little honey bunny
ho ho ho
little turtle dove
he he he
little saka taters'
your so pretty pretty pretty
I could eat your toes




jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle
pickle pickle pickle pickle
little saka sugar I could eat you up
jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle
tickle tickle tickle tickle
little saka sugar I could eat you up




hey hey hey my tootsee wootsee
wrangle tangle dangle and a honey in a tree
ho ho ho my butterfly flutters
pretty pretty pretty I could eat your nose



jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle
tickle tickle tickle tickle
little saka sugar I could eat you up
jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle
tickle tickle tickle tickle
little saka sugar I could eat you up




google google google
a coogle(?) and a cuddle
I kick your foot like a bicycle peddle
a pretty little hoodle(?) and a one-eyed frog
pretty pretty pretty I could gobble you whole




jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle
tickle tickle tickle tickle
little saka sugar I could eat you up
jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle
tickle tickle tickle tickle

little saka sugar I could eat you up
little saka sugar I could eat you up

I hope it's worth the paper it was printed on



After receiving numerous MAJOR violations, Huong Sen Tofu finally got a green card. I've been waiting for a clean bill of health before checking the place out. Supposedly it's a 100% vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant on Stockton blvd...home of the good stuff. I've been looking for something better than Andy's, so this place looks promising.

Next step, either convince Niki it's safe to eat there, or invite one of my more adventurous friends out for dinner.

Josh P..Vegan Chef Extrordinare



Right now I am enjoying an amazing spinach calazone, courtesy of Mr. Josh. It's sooooo good!

Ya'll need to take advantage of his services since he moved in to Sac and all for us! I've missed his last self-hosted meal, but Niki and I have been utilizing his food-to-go service and going to his brunches.

mmmm.. ok time to finish lunch...

Oh...and here's a link to his blog

Lupes!!



My friend Lupe was on Conan last week, singing with Feist!

Here's more info about it all.

More pics from Yosemite!

Feeling guilty



Every once in a while I feel guilty for getting free stuff on-line. If it's an album of a band I really like, I try my best to buy it on LP format, (since I already have a digital copy). Most recently though, Ira Glass from my favorite NPR show "This American Life" gave everyone a reality check (aka a guilt trip) on the cost of providing the free weekly podcast, which is how I've been listening to it for a while now. I've never given to NPR, since I'm always put off by them asking for $50-100, like that's chump change, but Ira made a good point by stating "if everyone who listened donated 25 cents, we could cover our costs", so I was sold. I figure $15 a is a good deal for a year subscription to TAL, since buying a CD containing that many episodes would probably cost double the amount.

Apsishik aukshtielninkas



Probably the most useful site on "the net"

some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue

Vs.



Great article about the US vs. the UK versions of The Office

Spinnin'


Not much to post about, so here is a list of albums I'm currently rockin':

New stuff:







Not as new:




P.S. Does anyone know where I can buy a ground cable for one of these?

Sometimes...scratch that...many times I don't get pitchforkmedia.com quality standards



So they dis the finches for using ear friendly chord progressions yet basically perform fellatio on Hot Chip for making a dance mix album (songs from other artists).

OK OK OK aldready...



The comments on code monkey are blowin up these days: "Leon write more about your trip to Germany....blah...blah...blah". One of the resons I haven't written much is because of my "incident".