Holiday in

To be in Falmouth awaiting the ferry - with ten zillion others on their way to some island for the summer. No. I am content (is this a pun?) with sitting here, miles and eons away from that concept of how to spend my beginning of summer vacation. But there is some thrill about boarding some large craft named The Island Queen. Wave to the folks!
Attended a show the other night at McCabe's in Santa Monica - first time there. The show? Neil Innes. Last time I breathed the same air with him was back in 1968 when the Bonzos opened for the Grateful Dead at the Ark in Boston. I got to sit immediate to Robert Wuhl - we even chatted a bit - and met Emo Phillips as we stood in line. And we were in the wrong line, as the line we stood in was for the toilets. That's entertainment.
Good show. See www.neilinnes.org for details on this tour. A bassist and drummer were performing with Neil, a perfect accompaniment to his strumming and piano licks. All in all, it was worth the price to see one of my favorite musicians perform in such the intimate space. Gwen, my neighbor (www.gwendolyn.net) has performed there, Seats 155. I watched as Robert Wuhl did the math with seat counting - and I told him that directly above us was the capacity rating - 155. He enjoyed that. My god, we bonded! As if.
The tour, if that is what it what it is, is entitled Ego Warriors. Much audience participation; a bit of history lesson also - all good stuff. Neil said that the show was traveling to Yosemite the next day - to play where? That's remote.
But what do I know? It is a languid day here - playing music from all sorts of places - right now I have on Barklee Henry's music given to me last year when his ex, the lovely Andrea Toral, visited from Chile and bestowed me with it. I guess this world-music edge is very Big Sur, which is Barklee's home and also where Andrea and I met back in 1975 - Tillie Gorts in Pacific Grove, to be more specific -- what the hell was she doing working there? She's a Whitney-Vanderbilt, fer Pete's sake. So's Barklee. This is complicated.
Anyhow, the music is lovely and perfect for such the afternoon.
Segue? Let's keep it ethereal.
Kalimba! I love kalimbas. Looked for one at McCabe's the other night, but it was too busy to really give a good once-over to the joint, although we did espy a washboard tie, shown to me by the gal with Emo. The perfect gift for someone, I would guess.
The sound quality at this place was superb - quite possibly the best I have encountered at any musical event - for real! Balanced and clear as a bell.
One odd bit was the bassist - looked very much like a young Mathew Filipowski; blond with scraggled beard. We're talking doppelganger here.
Just got my hummingbirds fed - and found that one of my orchids is in bloom! First time in about three years for this little chocolate fleur. Make my day!