Month: June 2004

Sunburnt

Well, just a little. I put lotion on Saturday, and got a little on the side of my arms where it wasn’t, and got some on my arms and nose from yesterday. Jill only had some on her face Saturday, so her arms have it heavy, and some on her chest.

Friday Jill and I went downtown to check out Van Halen. We had reservations at Tony Cheng’s, but I wasn’t hungry (had a late farewell lunch for a coworker) and Jill wasn’t in the mood. There was a long wait at Legal’s, so we went to La Tasca, the tapas place (with another location in Clarendon we’d been to before). I didn’t have much, mostly some spinach dish, but it was tasty. And Van Halen was rocking, had everyone standing through the show. The new songs (for the new greatest hits CD) aren’t that great, but they played a bunch of tunes from 5150 and F*CK, my favorite CDs of theirs. Sammy’s a great frontman, made sure it was a fun show. Eddie has recovered from the hip replacement and throat cancer. Well, his voice was a croak, but he wailed on the guitar.

Both Saturday and Sunday I slept in. Saturday we had some egg sandwiches and headed to the Old Dominion Beer Festival about 1:30. We thought we’d stay a couple hours – we ended up staying for over six hours. We showed up early to catch the Brindley Brothers – they were fun. Before and after, we were filling up on beers. About 4, my friend Dave got there, and we were chatting with him, getting food and more beers. Dogfish Head had an ApriHop ale that was good, and the Rogue Dead Guy Ale was really tasty on draft. Dave’s friend Steve showed up at 6, and we talked with him some before we left.

When we got home it was after 7, so I grilled some steaks, then we left for Nissan Pavilion. It was nice coming late – there was no traffic on 66 or Wellington Road. As we walked in the gate, Frampton was ending – no big loss. We got to our seats and waited about 15 minutes for Styx. They were good (although Jill didn’t enjoy them too much). They played the big hits, including an 18 song medley. The 3 new songs were decent, and Lawrence Gowan (who replaced Dennis DeYoung) is quite a showman – his keyboard spins around 360 degrees, and then he hops on top of it.

Sunday, we got up and read until we left at about 12:45. We were meeting friends for brunch at 2941 in Fairview Park. Hannah and Dave, who arranged it, wisely chose outside seating. The patio overlooks a lake, and it was a gourgeous day for it – just a little cloudy, in the 70s. The food was superb, especially the eggs benedict (always a favorite of mine) and the carrot cake (I feel full again just thinking about it). We got ice teas after we finished, and talked a while. It was nearly 4 when we left (we fed the fish in the pond near the entrance while we waited for the car). We had to get back home so my sister (who’s a Mary Kay consultant) could come over and plan Jill’s wedding makeup. Sharon couldn’t stay for dinner, so we just curled up on the couch and read. We weren’t hungry until after 10, when we had greek salads and fried shrimp (it was quick to make).

This week’s shows

Much to my surprise, Jill is as big a Van Halen fan as I am. So naturally we’ll be checking them out at the MCI Center Friday (Silvertide opens). Yes, Sammy’s back singing, but he’s my favorite. My first Van Halen album was “1984”, but my favorite is “5150”. I remember the tape I had of it had one of the reels broken and I had to carefully set it in a tape player to play it at all the frat parties.

Saturday we’ll be going to the Old Dominion Beer Festival, behind their brewpub in Ashburn. We’ll go around 2PM, because that’s when the Brindley Brothers are playing. We’ll stick around for a while, maybe check out Last Train Home as well. Can’t stay too long, as we’ve got tix for Peter Frampton and Styx that night at Nissan Pavilion. I don’t really care about Frampton, but I do like Styx – we may go late, avoid the crowd.

TV watching

Jill and I can’t always agree on what to watch. I like music videos, Comedy Central, Sci Fi, and HBO. She likes the Food Network, home improvement shows, and PBD cartoon. Last night we both liked the American Film Institute’s special “100 Years…100 Songs” (the list ). Pretty good selection, and although they did have people talking over the songs, typically it was people who actually made them. She did fall asleep during the last hour, but I’m sure that was the 5 hours of sleep she’d gotten.

It was a good thing Jill was home last night, and not Monday when I watched part 2 of “Salem’s Lot”. She really doesn’t like horror movies. Guess no “M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village” for her later this summer (I didn’t watch “Signs” until it came out on DVD, but it was well done. I wonder how many times he can come up with twists).

Cheney lied

The administration has been masterful about twisting the English language to suit their needs ( “Bin Laden Determined to Strike inside US” was a “historical document” instead of a warning memo?), but now Cheney’s been caught in an out and out lie. Where’s the outrage from the right wing who couldn’t stand Clinton lying?

Fadder’s Day

Nice weekend. We only stayed for the first band on Friday since Jill had been babysitting all day and was wiped out. 4 Way Street were worth it, though (and Jammin’ Java’s roast beef sandwiches are pretty good).

We both had errands and appointments on Saturday, but met up at the Taste of the Town at Reston Town Center. I missed most of Default, but what I heard wasn’t that great. We filled up on food (scallops, chowder, ribs, calamari and shrimp dumplings), then went to Total Wine because we were out of beer. Just a salad for dinner, and we read and watched TV (mostly me, Jill was on the phone a lot).

Gourgeous day yesterday. Jill made French toast for breakfast, then we met up with the family (and Sharon’s beau) at the WWII memorial. I agree with the opinion that it’s kinda cold, but it’s redeemed by the personal items (mostly pictures, flowers and cards Sunday) that have been left by the veterans and their families. We went to Mom’s afterwards and had hot dogs and hamburgers. and a yummy cherry-rhubarb cobbler. Jill had to work at night, so I watched part 1 of the new adaption of Salem’s Lot. I enjoyed it, and they had some nicely scary scenes – and Donald Sutherland and Rutger Hauer as vamps. Blows away the ’70s movie, and I’m looking forward to part 2 tonight.

This week’s shows

All kinds of stuff tomorrow, and I don’t know if I’ll make any of them. Default is playing at Reston Town Center’s Taste Of The Town, and I might make the end of their set. At night, the “Voices Of Classic Rock” are playing the Alexandria Waterfront Festival, Smartbomb is reuniting to play TT’s, and Aimee Mann is playing the 9:30 club. But it’s been a while since we’ve had nothing to do on a Saturday night.

Tonight we’re going to see 4 Way Street at Jammin’ Java. They’re opening, but I won’t miss them when they’re so close. I can’t get enough of their harmonies.

Wolves Done

I finished Stephen King’s “Wolves Of The Calla” last night. It’s the fifth book in his Dark Tower series. I got it for Christmas, but hadn’t picked it up until last week because of the publicity from the new book in the series (and I’ve been reading a lot with my right wrist in a cast).

It’s a good read, and it didn’t matter after a while that it’d been nearly a year since I finished the fourth book. It’s more of a Western than the last couple books, in the same feel (and world) as the first book. Good enough that the first thing I did this morning was order the next book (final one comes out in December). The second thing I did this morning was make Jill’s birthday plans, but I can’t post those ’til it happens.

Job interview

I just had one – with the company right next door (our ex-network guy works there). I didn’t really think it was a big deal, right up until they started asking me questions. Then I remembered how long it had been since I’d opened a programming book. Why would you use an interface vs. an abstract base class? I blanked – gave an answer somewhere in the ballpark of the correct answer (this). Has it really been three and a half years since I did one of these? Hopefully the next one will go better – I’ll cram beforehand.