Pigs land in Westminster

Post-wedding pigs reach their final destination without incident. Ready to serve again for next tour of duty. Families grateful to have them home. XOXO <3

Dia de los Muertos!

How about that wedding!? Congratulations again to the Bears . . . Noah and Cici. I, for one, had

a fabulous time, and I miss you all.

After returning to LaLa land full of the jubilation of ceremony and matrimony, all that I could think about was death. Rather, the celebration of lives lived. On November 1st and 2nd, we celebrated Dia de los Muertos, where the spirits of our dearly departed return to the earth. It's one of those holidays that's a combination of the Catholic All Saint's Day, and ancient Aztec Traditions. Los Angeles, as the most important hub of Mexican culture outside of Mexico City, has an awesome Dia de los Muertos celebration.

One of the ceremonies involved with the celebration are the creation of altars. Pictures of our dearly departed are placed on the altar along with candles, flowers, bread, water, trinkets, and sugar skulls. The thought is that you put out things that will lead the spirits to the right place-placing your dearly departed's favorite booze and sweets, incense and fragrant flowers-and then a little sustenance-rice, beans, etc. We went to two different festivals-one at the Hollywood cemetery, and one at the oldest Plaza in LA-and the altars were pretty spectacular.

In the spirit of celebration, T and I decided to make an altar of our own. We picked up some molds and some merangue powder (the secret ingredient) for making some sugar skulls, gathered some familial historic items, and created our little altar. I was sort of expecting our spirits to bring us presents, but apparently, that's not how it works. Oh well, it felt good to participate in a little ceremony . . . a little tribute to the past to live a fuller present.

There's a little taste of the fast pace of the west coast! Hope everyone is well, and I look forward to the next time we're all gathered!

And . . . some months later

So, we've all had birthdays since the last post. Well, all of us kids have anyhoo. I didn't do too much for my 34th this year, which is how I like it! As you know, T's birthday is a mere two days before mine, and I made her a couple of flower boxes for our front porch.

We've got rosemary, basil, cilantro and orageno in the one box . . . and a cactus garden in the other. The herbs are starting to come in, and the cactus' already taste delicious. We had a small praying mantis living among our plants for a while which I'm pretty sure is a symbol of general awesomeness.

The spring was both busy and boring. Midsummer Night's Dream was a fun & fast production. From the first rehearsal to the final performance, it was less than six weeks of Snug (the lion).

The production was beautifully staged and adequately performed, and it was a good time. Our rude mechanicals were most certainly rude.

It's been a bit slow on the audition front . . . and to be honest, I've been less tenacious than usual about hunting down work. With six weeks in Colorado coming up, I didn't want to get caught up in some scheduling misadventures.

I've been pretty addicted to the World Cup. How can soccer be so boring and so exciting all at the same time?

Well, that's all for now. Pretty short post. I can't wait to see everyone soon!

HoHoKam

The Plan was simple, with an emphasis on fun . . . faced with a combination of opportunity and willpower, T and I made a last-minute trip to Mesa AZ to catch a couple of Cubs Spring Training games. For me, the last time I was here was years ago with Dad where I collected autographs from Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Schwan Dunstin, Ron Cey, and many others. In fact, it was that trip that inspired me to go on to play ten years of professional ball . . . in my mind. For T, this was the second annual trip . . . a number of her old coworkers from Wrigley spend time in Mesa every summer. The life of a Cubs fan!

In our attempt to keep the trip on the cheap, we opted against Hotels, and in an effort to keep it slightly civilized, we also opted against the bohemian couch-hopping that Tanya took advantage of last season. The middle ground: Camping at the Lost Dutchman State Park! What an awesome choice. The Lost Dutchman is the name given to the monolythic rock formation that allegedly holds hidden gold. Though folks have been searching for the hidden treasure in the shadows of the Lost Dutchman for the past hundred years or so, I was fairly certain that we would stumble across it during our couple of days there.

We arrived in the afternoon to learn that all of the campgrounds had been filled. Bummer. But there was room in the overflow area. We wound our way into the park, and pretty quickly found a great spot to set up the tent. Funny, even in the camping areas, the place was filled with RV's. We were the only people there without a vehicle to sleep in. Memories of the van . . .

I'm actually running out of time with this blog, so I'll leave you with the highlights and pictures-We saw two games, the "A" squad won, the "B" squad lost. We Tailgated with the Wrigley crew, and had a blast. We Camp-cooked several great meals. We spent an afternoon saving a lost dog (it had to happen). We saw some roadrunners, and heard some coyotes. On the Drive home, my car died on the highway, and had to have a new alternator put in. Ouch. We had a blast.

The Lost Dutchman Mountains

The Nearby Ghost Town

Our awesome campsite

Cubs Crew-In the grassy "Bleachers"

Mmmm. . . grub

Avoiding local beasties

Vancouver! Part 4

Whoops- Almost forgot to finish the story!

Thursday the 18th.

The day began on on more melancholy note . . . bright and early in the morning, I packed up my things and hopped off the Rumblebus.

I don't remember exactly what we had to do to get the RV "sea worthy", but it took very little time at all. As strange as it was to meet up with Dad in a random RV park in Vancouver, it was just as strange to watch him driving out . . . left in a parking lot with all my baggage. It had been an awesome few days, and I was sad to watch Dad pull away . . . and I also felt pretty sure that he had about a 30% chance of making it safely back into the USA.

Though bummed, I was determined to spend my last several hours in Vancouver having fun-good clean fun. In order to start the day on the right foot, it was back to the dojo for some intense cleaning. After a scrub and an intense re-packing, it was off to some delicious breakfast at the USA house . . . only, there was no breakfast at the USA house. For the first time on the Olympic Away Tour, the house of continual nourishment fell short, and I was brutally forced to wait for free food until lunch. I was able to leave my baggage at the luggage check, so, unencumbered, I took to the streets. That morning, I visited the First Nations House and witnessed some tribal dancing, followed by a trip to the host nation Canada's house. That was pretty cool, with some interactive displays about the history of winter sports.

After that, I ventured to the Vancouver downtown library . . . 'cause that's the kind of guy I am.

The library had a pretty cool interactive Peace art instillation thing.

It worked like this: you wrote down your key to peace on a piece of waxy paper, follow the folding directions to make a sort of stealth paper airplane, then stick the plane into an air tube to launch it.

The "planes" launched about three stories into the air, then "fly" down into a giant net that stretched across the pavilion. On my first attempt, my peace plane launched well wide of the net and hit an unsuspecting woman drinking a cup of coffee . . . whoops.

I guess that getting hit with a peace plane is not as bad as getting hit with the ugly stick, because she returned the vessel with a smile. International good will . . . you're welcome.

Back to the USA house for some grub, and who did I see, but Tony Dungy! For some reason, I got totally tongue-tied, and passed up the opportunity to shake his hand. He seemed to be just hanging out with his wife, no organized event or anything, but not saying hello to him is my one regret from Vancouver.

After a delicious-if-uneventful lunch, I grabbed my bags and headed out to the airport. The light rail took me right there, and I made it through customs with no problem! A smooth flight to San Fransisco, and about an hour drive brought me to Campbell, Ca, for another weekend of awesome shows.

As I was checking in on Sunday to fly back to LA, I noticed that I was right next to Gallagher-the watermelon-smashing comedian. He had a giant wooden mallet with him, which he had to check, but he was on my flight to LA. Weird.

I probably could have spent a few more days in Vancouver, but all totalled, it was an awesome trip. Sochi anyone?

Vancouver! Part 3

Wednesday, the 17th.

Wow. For the first time in days, I woke up feeling like a human. The only thing we had on tap for the day was the men's 1000 in the afternoon. Sounds like a great opportunity to soak in a little local culture. We started with breakfast, coffee, and the local paper at a little bistro in our neighborhood-loonies ($1) and toonies ($2) had to be spent! On that note, I soon learned that the money exchanges at the airport only deal with paper money, so I still have some Canadian Coin!

After breakfast, we took a nice long walk around the point. With the wind off the water, it was a brisk morning to be sure, but the walk was great. We passed all manner of fishing boat, large and small, and of course, took in more public art, random and planned! Again, it was interesting to see the Asian influence in the landscape . . . from wind-swept tundra to bonsai garden. We finished the hike at a local museum dedicated to to the fishing/canning industry . . . but we had no time for a history lesson! It was just another opportunity to pick

up some swag!

Somehow, through the fog of late nights, dripping noses, and general Olympic fever, we were able to carefully craft and recraft a strategic shopping plan . . . a carefully concocted battle plan to best avoid the daunting line and "blood in the water" atmosphere of the main downtown merchandise center. The plan involved aborting our daily commute halfway and striking where defenses were weaker . . . a satellite merch store close to the O-zone (another hub of Olympic brouhaha and sight of the popular Heineken house). Sadly, while this location was slightly less chaotic, it was also drastically less stocked. Oh well. The Richmond Oval awaits!

A short walk from the merch mall brought us to the Richmond Curling Association . . . basically adjacent to to the Oval. The plan was to meet up with friends for lunch before cheering on the racers. Curling. Is it a sport? A hobby? A retirement plan? It was pretty cool to see up close and personal . . . but I still have only the vaguest idea of how exactly it works. I actually heard on an NBC broadcast the other night that, of the fans who have been selling out the Olympic curling events, only about 25% of them understand the game.

Carrying empty backpacks with us (part of the master merchandise plan) this time routed us through increased security lines, but still getting into the oval was no problem. The Dutch were back in force, as was their soundtrack, the Klentie Pils. Again, the races were awesome. It may have even been cooler because we had a horse in the race . . . actually, THE horse in the race . . . Shawnie Davis. It was pretty amazing to see him race to victory! In a sort of selfish way, I was hoping to see a new world record . . . but didn't really expect it what with the Ice in that arena, but that aside, it was just an awesome experience!

After the races, we got a lift back downtown. I should say, after the races and after some awkward parking lot maneuvering, we got a lift back downtown. After a couple days of public transportation, it was pretty cool to get a different view of Vancouver. At the USA house, there was much reveling and discussion about the races (both that night's and for the past few decades!). We did make our final merchandise push that early evening, and despite all the carefully-crafted planning, we put ourselves in the slowest part of the line at the busiest time of the day. Sweet. Doesn't matter. Ride the Olympic Cloud.

Another longer-than-anticipated night at the USA house filled with awesome food and a couple of pitchers. With departure plans on the horizon, we opted for a cab ride back to Stevenson, and the RV. . . Another long day, but today we brought home the Gold.

Vancouver! Part 2

Tuesday, the 16th: Woke up Early. I woke up early because I had a terrible night sleep thanks to my stuffy-yet-running nose. Totally annoying. Dad woke up early because he had been invited to an early Rotary Club meeting close by. Again, shoring up International relations! I took advantage of Canada's health care system, in a manner of speaking, by picking up some medicines at a nearby drugstore. Coffee and decongestant . . . the breakfast of Olympians!

The shower of the community center was broken, so we showered at the Japanese/Canadian Center next door. I took a wrong turn when I first walked in, and wandered into a dojo . . . pretty cool. The Japanese have a long and rich history in Vancouver, and make up a surprising amount of the population. I'm thankful for that, because on this morning, taking a shower was godsend (buddhasend?) Pops found a tiny bar of soap hidden in his bags, and we were good to go.

It was a beautiful day in Vancouver, and while we had our big jackets, it was almost shorts weather. The bus/train ride down was abbreviated by a quick stop to stuff my pockets with kleenex, and before we knew it, we were down in the thick of it again. No event tickets today, but a few things on the hunting list . . . the first being the Olympic torch. The walk to the torch was fun . . . again highlighted by international fans, costumed streetpeople, pin-hawking Bedouins, local commuters, and general good feelings. The torch was on a bay, although much of Vancouver is on a bay, and we were separated from it by about 500 yards and a tall chain-link fence.

Guess they weren't taking any chances! (We read in the paper that, due to general public outcry about terrible picture opportunities, they moved the fence closer and lowered it the day after we were there.) I couldn't explain the design of the torch, but it was pretty cool to see it!

From there, we wound around a riverwalk past waterplanes, floating gas stations, harbors (holding some of the most adorable houseboats ever!), and still more fans. It was a bit of a hike, but we found our destination of the Saxony House . . . Germany's party place for the Olympics. Housed in Vancouver's Rowing Club Building, it was a beautiful location, but I was sort of surprised that there wasn't more to it. I guess I sort of figured that the Houses of the Nations would have more displays or history exhibits, or even tourism associations! In fact, from what I could gather, they were more about post-performance celebration . . . stages set up for

bands/presentation of medal winners, food courts, and of course, libations. Don't get me wrong, it was cool . . . just not what I expected.

After asking directions, we made our way by bus across downtown towards Chinatown. Our third destination: ex-olympians reception house (I can't remember the actual name of this place-ask dad). Again, it was a long hike, and the destination was not as expected. It was cool to see a bit of Chinatown, and the house was pretty cool-it was basically an art gallery with some awesome photos from the last summer games, but it wasn't quite as comfortable as we were hoping after trekking across town a couple of times. The pictures were pretty spectacular, and they did have a small lounge area where we sat and watched some of the games on a big screen while wolfing down some energy bars, m&m's and vitamin water. But all things considered, it was a pretty quick trip.

Sometimes you wanna go-where everybody knows your name . . . back to the USA house for us. Somehow, we made it. Jumped on a mystery bus, and hiked through the bedlam, and we made it. Just in time for the salmon. Or was it the crab cakes . . . I can't recall. I do recall that I met Eric Heiden when we got it. That was pretty cool.

From here, if memory serves correctly, we made a couple of micro-trips-to the always-rocking Irish house across the street (where we watched riverdancing and the women's 1000), and to the Olympic merchandise mecca a few blocks away. Spend-fever was rampant and addicting in that place. Aside from those trips, we ate, drank, and talked the night away as more faces from the past came out . . . at some point in the evening, they introduced the gold medal winner from the Men's Snowboardcross. It was pretty cool to see the Vancouver Gold medal up close and personal.

I'm not exactly sure what time we made it back to the RV, but I did have my first restful night sleep in 3 nights!

Vancouver! Part 1

Wow. The whole world gathered in Vancouver to entertain Dad and I. That was nice of them! Here's the quick Run-down:

Sunday, the 14th: Dad is in Seattle, picking up the RV from Spider. I'm in San Ramone, performing in a high school theatre for two shows of suprisingly subdued fans. Somehow, Dad drives the Rumblebus across the border into Canada without causing an international incident. However, he nearly causes one later that night when he almost bumps into vice president Joe Biden at the USA house . . .

Monday, the 15th: After a night of no sleep, I drive to the San Fransisco Airport at 4:30 in the morning. I'm in the Vancouver airport by 10. On the cab ride, my first impressions of

Vancouver is how green and temperate it is . . . strange arriving to the winter Olympics and not seeing any snow! The cab drops me off in a quaint little fishing village next to a huge (almost a city block) dirt pile. Just on the other side of said dirt pile, I see a row of gypsyish RV's . . . our temporary home.

We're staying in Stevenson, in Richmond. Richmond is a suburb of Vancouver, and Stevenson is a neighborhood in Richmond. One of the oldest still-operating fishing villages (including a

cannery) on the west coast. It's adorable.

Against all odds, Dad and I met up on-schedule in the parking lot of a community center. Awesome. I got the quick tour of the land: the community center where the bathrooms and work-out rooms were, the Martial Arts center (near the canadian/Japanese

Heritage center) where we ended up showering, the nearest coffee shops, and of course, a tour of our rolling territory . . . the RV. After that, we got our Loonies and our Twonies (sp?) lined up, grabbed our tickets for the day, and headed downtown.

Twenty minute bus ride and thirty/forty minute train ride and we were in the heart of Vancouver. Step off the train to streets packed with strange and wonderful public art, street

performers, and the gobs of fans, sporting local flair if not completely costumed-out! Dad and I made our way to the USA house, which turned out to be the hub of the Vancouver experience. Across the street from the always-partying Irish House, the USA house was an awesome oaisis, with free food, free bevrages, comfortable lounging, and direct-feed TV's. We ate like kings, met a bunch of "old-timers", and generally had a blast.

After Lunch at the USA house, we made our way to the Richmond Olympic Oval to take in the Men's 500. Yes, dad's old event. Awesome. The Oval was fantastic. Between the Klentie Pils (a Dutch Brass Band that kept the place rocking during down time), the roving cameras, the awesomely-costumed Dutch Fans, the cowbells, the merchandise, and of course, the athletes on the ice . . . I was having a hard time trying to take in everything at once!

The races were awesome. From our seats, we had a perfect view of the crossover, where the racers would change lanes as they came into the turn right in front of us. Amazing. Though the Koreans ran away with the 500, the Oval would erupt whenever there was a Canadian, American, or Dutch Skater. The only drawback was the nearly two-hour delay incurred when the brand-new eco-friendly Ice-Shaving machines broke down. That was tough, and as time went on, you could start to feel the general fear that the races might have to be rescheduled. They finally got it useable, though the general concensus was that the ice never really looked as good as it did in the beginning. Throughout the ordeal, the crowd kept their spirits up by repeatedly breaking into the wave, and singing along with the Klentie Pils. Even after two hours of NOTHING going on . . . I couldn't think of any place I'd rather be . . .

After the races, we went back up to Stevenson for some local seafood. My nose was running like a faucet, and I generally felt like poo, so we decided to stay close to the Van that evening. Fish and Chips at a pub, with coverage of the games on the tube . . . a nice laid-back evening at the end of the first eventful day!