January

Sunday the 1st was New Year’s Day and we forced Nina to get outside as we walked around the lake and she rode her bike. Saturday we left Nina with pho from Teabreak and Phoebe, her new favorite babysitter (she lets her do TikTok) and went to Lorna and Dave’s in Herndon as they threw a party to celebrate their retirement. The genius was they hired a bartender and caterer so they didn’t have to do any of the work. Next, we went to the 9:30 Club where Everything was already on stage. We met up with my friend Norm, and enjoyed a fine show from emmet swimming. They brought Everything up to jam on their cover of “So Lonely”. We couldn’t hang out as we got home right before Phoebe needed to leave.

emmet swimming

Sunday the 8th Nina started a volleyball class after church, then Monday started a horseback riding class after school. Wednesday we all went over to Langston Hughes for the rising 7th Grade Curriculum Night and toured the school.

Nina

Friday the 13th we tempted our luck by heading to Mount Airy to our friends Laura and T’s house (who we’d shared a dinner table at the Eddie From Ohio cruise). They were hosting a house concert with Michael Clem and we enjoyed some great food and a great concert. Monday Nina and I were off for MLK day and we went shopping at Lotte Market and she got bubble tea. Then Nina managed to spend most of her Christmas money at 2nd and Charles (mostly on a box set of My Hero Academia books).

Jill Kerry Laura Michael Clem

Sue took the train down on Thursday the 19th. The next night and Saturday Nina was performing in Broadway Night at South Lakes High School, and we were told to only go once, so we all got takeout Friday night before she performed, then Jill and I volunteered Saturday afternoon before we all went to the show Saturday night.

Nina

Nina was off Thursday the 26th and the next day for the end of the school quarter. Nina, Jill and Sue went to a tea that day, then Friday night Sue took Nina to Glory Days Grill. Meanwhile, we went into DC and had dinner at Little Pearl. I didn’t realize it because I’d seen a menu on their website, but they did a tasting menu. After Jill got through the first course of steak tartare, she was pretty happy with the rest of it. We stayed at Hampton Inn & Suites in Navy Yard and did some bar crawling when we were done at Tap99 and Chicken + Whiskey.

Kerry Jill

Monday the 30th Wolf Trap announced their summer schedule, and was bummed as Brandi Carlile would host a new two day festival to start the season, and said “Dang it. We start summer vacation that day.”

Nina

December

Thursday the 1st I took and passed the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam. Friday I took Nina to get her Invisalign checked after school, then Saturday Jill and I went to her work party (shockingly before Christmas). When she told me it was being held above a gun range, I had a much different vision in my head than what we got at XCAL. It was a lovely evening with appetizers, dinner and an open bar.

Nina

Sunday the Girl Scouts met at our house for a meeting where they “start[ed] with budgeting for future events and activities, and do some cookie sale planning. Then we’ll do a gift swap, a Hanukkah craft, and gingerbread house decorating”. That night after I saw “Covid hospitalizations rising post-Thanksgiving after an autumn lull.” I posted that with the hashtag #MaskUpVaxUp. Monday I posted this sad news from the wonderful restaurant that hosted my birthday party.

Nina Girl Scouts

Tuesday the 6th Nina had joined Broadway Night again, and that night started rehearsals for it. Wednesday I noted there have been people predicting the death of rock music, but judging from that night, it was alive and well. DC101 had their DC101-derland concert at The Anthem, featuring Jimmy Eat World, Spoon, The Struts & Silversun Pickups, and while The Anthem doesn’t have the same capacity as the Capital One Arena where Hot 99.5 would hold their Jingle Bell Ball the next week, it was packed with jumping, screaming fans. It was a good example of rock bands in the last couple decades who are still popular.

DC101-derland

Friday Nina went to a cookie rally with the Girl Scouts, then Saturday the 10th we hosted our annual holiday party, for the first time in 3 years inside and people invited from outside our neighborhood. Nina had lots of friends and neighbors there, and we had a parent cocktail party in the kitchen. Some had views about the non-AAP program at Nina’s middle school next year, and that worried us enough we had a conversation with Nina about continuing in AAP. That kicked off a long week to work on her application and have her do a math worksheet and some art to submit to get into the county AAP program (she’d been in a school based one since 3rd grade).

Nina

Monday I had to post “Been there” after reading this: “Parenting means constantly looking for the silver linings, and so far I’ve identified two: 1. Sick kids can be atypically sedate and snuggly, which is sweet if they aren’t too disgusting; and 2. If society crumbles, and the resurrection of art and culture depends entirely on the recollections of “Fahrenheit 451”-style wanderers who have committed certain works to memory, I am fully prepared to dictate “Encanto” frame for frame.”, from this article.

Nina

Tuesday the 13th was Terraset’s Winter Concert for their orchestra, band and chorus where Nina performed in the last two (they also had done a performance in the afternoon for the other students). Friday we got takeout from Mezeh. Saturday we were invited for cocktails and pizza at Dee & Paul’s and the girls hung out while the adults got to talk. Nina’s winter break started Monday, and she luxuriated in practically unlimited device time. On International Rush Day (21-12), I celebrated with my favorite Rush acquisitions this year: pinball and beer. Friday evening we got takeout from Big Buns as Jill had to stop at the nearby Whole Foods to get a cake for Christmas.

Kerry

Christmas Eve was Saturday the 24th, and after Nina started her catsitting duties, we got surprise Cannons as the VRBO they were renting wouldn’t open and it was bitterly cold that weekend. We had just finished our dinner, but cooked the pizzas they bought and started a fire so everyone could have s’mores. Nina got her usual pajamas gift that evening, but really liked them.

Nina

Christmas morning we got up relatively early and opened our stockings and gifts. This was the first year Nina didn’t ask for or receive toys – her favorite gift was the Crunchyroll membership that my mom and sister got her. I had made a roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding meal the night before, and we brought that over to my dad’s house, where he and Patricia were waiting. We ate the meal, exchanged gifts, and played with their dog Justin. Later we had a video call with Mom and Sharon and their families, as well as Jill’s mom and sisters. I also had to share my favorite comic of the day.

Patricia Bryce

Monday Penny came over for a sleepover and helped with the catsitting, then they had pizza. The next morning when they went outside they walked briefly on the lagoon as it was still below freezing and pretty solid. Wednesday Nina had a couple friends over and it was finally above freezing, so they smashed the ice and threw it towards the geese. That night we met up with the Cannons for dinner at the Dogfish Head Alehouse. Friday we had the Cannons, Larsens and Norwood-Hochradels over for a New Year’s Eve Eve party since the Cannons were headed home the next day.

Nina Penny

New Year’s Eve itself was quiet. We got sushi from Arete and watched Demon Slayer before watching the ball drop. And I had to post this hilarious example of karma.

Kerry Jill Nina

Artists To Watch 2023

Eyeball
Again this year my music buying was mostly online from Bandcamp, high quality audio from Qobuz & 7digital and preordering mp3s and CDs from Kickstarter and Indiegogo. I also got free mp3s from WNRN.

Here’s a playlist of everything available on Spotify.

Here’s a playlist of everything available on YouTube.

Here’s a playlist of everything available on SoundCloud.

Band Song Why them
01. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Honeysuckle Blue (feat. Sadler Vaden) I’ve tried to leave my love of covers out of Artists to Watch, but this stunning cover of Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ with former DnC guitarist Sadler Vaden on vocals was the highlight of their show at Wolf Trap in June.
02. Summer Woods Pasadena I started following Summer Woods on Patreon after she released a Weird Al covers EP, but she has some fine songs as well.
03. Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs Wicked Mind It won’t surprise anyone that the ex-Heartbreakers guitarist writes songs that sound like Tom Petty, but who knew he could sing too?
04. The Loyal Seas Mary Magdalene In The Great Sky I’ve loved Tanya Donelly in everything she’s done, so when she formed a group with Brian Sullivan (from Dylan In The Movies), I was there.
05. Stephen Sanchez Until I Found You I found this first on MTV-U and loved the sound merging the 50s with today.
06. Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway Crooked Tree A fine bluegrass album.
07. Peter Mulvey & SistaStrings You And (Everybody Else) I’ve been following Peter Mulvey for a while, but when he brought in SistaStrings for his latest album, it became my favorite of his.
08. Suz Slezak This Life Is Kindly I would have enjoyed a new album from the David Wax Museum member, but seeing her perform it at their studio barn made me more of a fan.
09. TEOA (The End of America) Wait No More The first of my Falcon Ridge Folk Festival discoveries this year.
10. Envy of None Liar If you don’t think I’d be predisposed to like a group that includes Alex Lifeson of Rush, you’d be wrong.
11. Bleu & Carly Paige Holding On To You I was already a fan Bleu but this duet with Carly Paige made me a fan of her.
12. Aespa Life’s Too Short This was the year of K-pop for us, as Nina was all in this year. Blackpink is her favorite (and the biggest girl group in the world right now), but I also took a shine to Aespa (and an English version of their single).
13. Oshima Brothers Disco Down The Aisle The second of my Falcon Ridge Folk Festival discoveries this year.
14. Sharon Van Etten Mistakes What if Spoon’s Britt Daniel was female?
15. Tedeschi Trucks Band Hear My Dear These guys have always been great live, but now the songs are catching up to their talent.
16. Shannon Curtis Take It If You Want It What if Kate Bush started now?
17. Bhi Bhiman It’s Only Just Begun Been following him for a while. Not a Carpenters song.
18. Shemekia Copeland Too Far To Be Gone Timely slice of R&B.
19. Plains Problem With It Waxahatchee & Jess Williamson come together for this rootsy duet.
20. Nikki Lane First High A bit Sheryl Crow-ish. Never a bad thing.
21. Lula Wiles It’s Cool (We’re Cool, Everything’s Cool) Lovely harmonies.
22. Overcoats Clingy I found this on a compilation, but loved the sound made by the team of Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell.

November

Sue was still here on Tuesday the 1st so she, Jill and Nina walked around the lake. Saturday Jill, Nina and I all got our updated Covid vaccines. Monday I posted “Get that booster shot before it’s too late. And vote blue tomorrow.”

Nina

Friday the 11th Jill and Nina went camping with the Girl Scouts at Camp Coles Trip in Stafford. They painted the archery range while they were there, and according to Jill “Nina used a ton of patience and perseverance and found this sharks tooth after 30 min of looking”. Saturday night I went to Shirlington and ate at Taco and Piña. The food was good, but there weren’t many other customers when every other place was packed, mostly because they were out of half their menu. I only had a couple tacos, then went over to Big Buns for fries and a beer. Later I was just expecting a selection of covers as Robbie Schaefer and Danielle Wertz did Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell at Signature Theatre, but it was an actual show, and this review does it credit.

Nina

The next week featured two very different sold out concerts. First up on Monday the 14th was Blackpink, back at the Prudential Center in Jersey where I’d seen Iron Maiden (and the same section of seats). The K-pop dance show was in full effect, and we knew what to expect as it was always the same show. I was particularly amused by them thanking their band and their Pro Tools guy. I might not have been the target audience, but you can’t deny their earworms, and Nina had a great time. Driving up was the worst: we left at 2:15, and got there at 7:40. Driving back in the middle of the night was better, but we got back at 2:40am and I still had to get her to school by 9:20 the next day (luckily she fell asleep not long after we left around midnight).

Nina

I got back into jam bands this year, and saw that Goose and Billy Strings were two of the hot new ones. I was excited when Billy Strings was added to several of the Outlaw Music Festival shows, but saddened when ours was left out. So when I saw in October that Goose was touring with the Trey Anastasio Band and coming to Fairfax, I snagged a ticket for Thursday night. I anticipated some collaborations as both bands had been sitting in with the other all tour, so it wasn’t a surprise when Goose brought Trey Anastasio out for the end of their set. And when Trey announced a special guest that needed no introduction halfway through his set, I wasn’t surprised either. Until who I saw who it was: Billy Strings. And he stayed for the rest of the show, marking the first time he played with Goose. The jam band world had their heads blown by this (the top tier bands live stream their shows for $), and I really loved the show (even bought a shirt).

Friday the 18th Nina went on a ropes and zipline field trip that had been postponed due to rain on the previous night. As soon as she got home from school and Jill got home from work, I was driving to Jersey once again, this time for Friendsgiving. Tony had hosted from 2016-2019, and felt obligated to this year, but was unsure. Then Bill and Tassy had the wonderful idea to host a party the way Chris used to host his TinyTim parties, by renting a house at the beach during winter (and testing for Covid twice before we left). We got to Ocean City, NJ late at night, forced to get Wendy’s on the way.

Benji Nina

Saturday morning I slept in, then went shopping for food at Acme (finding yet another in the Safeway family) and alcohol (Ocean City is dry, had to go back across the bridge to Circle Liquor). I started cooking Orange Cranberry Pork Loin Roast, then some of us went for a walk and I stopped at Jilly’s Arcade on the way back to play some pinball. We managed to squeeze all 24 of us in the downstairs level for a fabulous potluck dinner, with an after dinner reading of the pickle story. After cleanup, Tony and I went out to play more pinball. Sunday we had a bit of breakfast, then a family picture on the beach before we packed up and headed home, picking up lunch at Wawa (one of the few fast food places where I can get a low sodium sandwich).

Friendsgiving

Tuesday the 22nd I took and passed the Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals exam. A week early, the long term contract I’d been working on ended and there were no available contracts, so I figured I’d start to get certified in some of the cloud computing I’d been working on. Late that night, Jill’s sister Melissa drove down with her two oldest kids. Wednesday we got Nando’s for takeout. Thanksgiving morning I got up early to put the 18 pound bird in the oven. Jill had already made her pies, Melissa had brought one from Ava, and when my dad arrived with Patricia, he brought 2 more for a total of 7. It was timely that the quilt Dad’s mom that we had finished had just arrived, so Jill was able to show him it. We ate around 2, and we had all the classics – everyone was happy. Dad wanted to leave before dark, so he had pie right away, but the rest of us spaced it out (I didn’t have pie until 7).

Bryce Jill Nina

Everyone but me went to the Walk of Lights at Meadowlark that night. Black Friday everyone was around, but off doing different things. The Bradys were shopping, Nina and Jill went to the parade in Reston and met one of her friends there, and I slept in. Saturday I took Nina to her flute lessons, and the Bradys left soon after we got back from that.

Nina Melissa Jill Maddy Jake

Tuesday the 29th the 3 Day Blinds people were here putting up the blinds on the middle level Jill wanted. That night I was at the 9:30 Club for NPR Music Celebrates 15 Years. I was also at the 10th anniversary, which had a great lineup. We got Amber Mark, Hurray for the Riff Raff and YENDRY, plus a surprise guest. I enjoyed the first three acts which all had a dance vibe. The surprise guest was Moonchild, who brought a jazz meets rock vibe, which was a nice way to end it.

NPR Music Celebrates 15 Years

Friday I was full of social media posts, as I got an unusual Wordle score:
Wordle 529 3/6
Then I found out about Christine McVie’s passing, saying “Dammit. RIP Christine McVie. I guess I know what I’m listening to tonight. The album she made with Lindsey Buckingham in 2017 was one of my favorite of the last decade – truly a Mac album (only Stevie Nicks is absent)”. And I also posted “Vax up and mask up, folks.” Nina also got her school picture taken this month as she was out in September.

Nina

October

On Saturday the 1st, we went to see a matinee of Hamilton, but headed straight home afterwards as Nina finally got to have her sleepover birthday party. It was very loud, Jill and I played pinball downstairs after she helped me install a cup holder. The next day Nina put up her Girl Scouts fall product page, and Jill posted “I’m very proud that N is a Girl Scout Cadette this year! They’re making big plans to go on lots of camping trips this year and start their Silver Award project journey this year! If you feel so inclined, please help her troop this fall!”

Nina

Thursday I went to see Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack perform with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, an excellent integration of classical music with jam bands. That weekend Nina went camping with the Girl Scouts again, this time with an emphasis on caving. Jill and I took advantage and went to have dinner at Tail Up Goat on Saturday the 8th in DC. So delicious (and I loved the Decorative Gourd Season cocktail). Sunday I went shopping at CD Cellar, Dominion Wine & Beer, and Big Planet Comics. Monday was a holiday (Indigenous Peoples’ Day), Nina and I were off, so I let her choose a friend, and we went to Tea Break Pho & Boba, then played minigolf and went Halloween costume shopping.

Nina

With Nina gone for the weekend, the next weekend Jill was out. I found out that Owl House, Nina’s current favorite TV series, would premiere Saturday night, so I told her and she wanted to have a watch party with her friends. Too many of them already had plans, so we switched to Sunday night; Vonda, one of the moms, came over to co-host with me. Meanwhile Jill posted “Ahhh Rhinebeck. So fun, so many people I got to run into and to meet….so much. I can’t see myself going every year but I really loved spending time with my mom and one of my very best friends and her son. I didn’t go crazy with purchases but I got some nice things and I’m happy with what I purchased. The trees had they’re beautiful fall gowns on of leaves and they were stunning. Bonus I got to see my sisters as well as nieces and a nephew for lunch and dinner. My heart is full.”

Nina

Tuesday the 18th I hired Ecosteamobile to come over and detail my car – they did a great job. That night Jill took Nina to check out artistic swimming in Annandale. Wednesday I was back at the Kennedy Center, this time with the family, to see “Weird Al” Yankovic doing his non-parody songs again. Friday night Jill took Nina to the South Lakes Homecoming Parade. I usually had done it, but I was on my way to Philly for my weekend off. Traffic was terrible as expected, so as soon as I got to Tony and Charissa’s house we jumped in their car and drove to Newark. We got some dinner at Mercato Tomato Pie, then walked over to the Prudential Center where Within Temptation was already on stage. They were soon off and headliners Iron Maiden were soon on, performing all their hits. After the show we went back to their house where I slept in their guest room.

Nina

Saturday morning Charissa had to work, so Tony and I drove down to Delaware and had lunch at Dom’s NY Style Pizzeria. He had wanted to take me to the Delaware Pinball Collective while I was up there, but that day they were holding the First State Flippers pinball tournament and he convinced me to play with him. I hadn’t realized until we were discussing it the night before the tournament would run 4-5 hours. It was very anxiety inducing before it started, but pretty straightforward. For each round, I was assigned to a machine with 3 other players, and we’d play until all of us had played. During the 7 rounds, I played Tron, Rollergames, Godzilla, Space Shuttle, Star Wars, Flight 2000 & World Cup Soccer 94 (there were 43 available games to select from). Although we’d shown up an hour early to practice, during the tournament I performed much worse, happy to finish 57/60 (not dead last). Jill had posted “Happy Birthday to the guy I feel lucky enough to call my partner in life! You are a fantastic husband, father, and an awesome human being! N and I love you so much and looking forward to celebrating you this evening!”

Nina

So after another fun drive home (only 2 hours home from Delaware, but with traffic it took 3. When I got home, Nina and Jill took me out to Makers Union Pub in Reston for a tasty dinner, and we watched the Juliet Lloyd Trio perform inside while we sat outside next to a heater. Later we enjoyed the homemade carrot cake cupcakes Nina and Jill had made. Sunday night I went over to The Birchmere to see the Watkins Family Hour. No Fiona Apple this time, but they did have special guest Willie Watson from Old Crow Medicine Show. Wednesday Jill posted this picture and said “I still wear these socks! Much less vibrant now. Loved knitting the legwarmers out of my leftovers; it would take a bit more yarn to make them for N nowadays.”

Nina

Friday the 28th Sue flew down. Jill was out for a CRNA dinner so the rest of us got takeout from Tea Break Pho & Boba. I mentioned finally getting to Minibar in August, but originally we’d planned to invite friends to celebrate my 50th birthday. When we decided to do it this year, Jill had a good idea to separate Minibar and dinner with friends, and we ended up doing it that Saturday. Sue was down to babysit as other parents were only able to attend that way. It was so much fun to rent out the whole restaurant and have it all to ourselves. Jill said “this year we finally celebrated Kerry’s 50th birthday. Friends who are like family came from near and far to celebrate my amazing guy and to have an incredible meal at Maple Ave Restaurant. It was a perfect evening full of friendship, laughter, and community. My mom came as well to take care of the kiddos so we wouldn’t worry and got to experience her first Halloween with us!”

Nina

Sunday Sue shot pictures of Jill and Nina at Meadowlark. And yes, Nina got her Halloween on. She and a friend coordinated costumes from “Owl House”, and Jill and Sue walked with them in the rain. I handed out candy while I made dinner. Jill also said “I’m also writing to let you know I’m taking a much needed social media break; I’m not sure when I’ll be back but rest assured I’ll still be crafting and doing my best to cultivate and enjoy the community I am blessed to be a part of. I wish you Serenity.”

Nina

Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert

When they announced members of Rush and Queen would attend the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert, I knew I would attend no matter what (those groups had never been on a bill together). I was surprised and happy when Jill said she wanted to as well, so I’d made plans. I got shutout of the presale and regular sale, but went to a reseller for seats (in the highest section). The London show just made me more pumped, and I had made a playlist for us of what I guessed the LA would bring. When our tickets were scanned successfully, the anxiety melted away and I was ready for a show that would surpass all my expectations.

poster

In London, Violet Grohl had come out late in the show to perform several Jeff Buckley songs. Right at 7PM, she came out first and played “Hallelujah”, a Leonard Cohen song Jeff Buckley had famously covered (with Eleven’s Alain Johannes). Then the Foo Fighters came out and introduced Joan Jett, along with drummer Travis Barker (from Blink-182). They did “Cherry Bomb”, a song from her first group The Runaways (the first all girl band) and “Bad Reputation” (I had called for “Bad Reputation” and “I Love Rock ‘N Roll”). Then the Foos left the stage, and as in London, we got sets from Taylor’s bands Chevy Metal & Taylor Hawkins and The Coattail Riders. Chevy Metal did a completely different set of covers, this time breaking out AC/DC’s “Riff Raff”, Yes’s “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” (with current Yes singer Jon Davison) and David Bowie’s “Heroes” (with Kesha, who’d covered T. Rex’s “Children Of The Revolution” at this point in London). The Coattail Riders were then up, with Justin Hawkins from The Darkness on vocals again. They did “Range Rover Bitch” and “It’s Over”, but then brought up Mark King from Level 42 to do his song “Something About You”. In a move I was surprised they didn’t do in London, drummer Rufus Taylor (son of Roger Taylor and current drummer for The Darkness) joined them for a great version of “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”.

Dave Grohl Joan Jett

Next was the James Gang, doing the same set as London (“Walk Away”, “The Bomber” & “Funk #49”) with Dave Grohl on the last song. Still a nice treat, as they’re only doing 3 reunion shows this year. Mark Ronson didn’t do Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” like he did in London (he produced that song), instead throwing a cover of Gerry Rafferty’s “Right Down The Line” at us. Them Crooked Vultures was up, again covering Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and frontman Josh Homme’s own “Long Slow Goodbye”, but subbing in “Dead End Friends” instead of “Gunman” for their sole track of theirs. It was so nice to see them again – I saw them 3 times in 2009, but all before their album came out. Dave Grohl came out to introduce Mammoth WVH’s Wolfgang Van Halen and Justin Hawkins as they tore through Van Halen’s “Panama” (in for “On Fire” from London) and “Hot For Teacher”, all showing that while Wolfgang Van Halen was understandably reluctant to do any tribute to his dad, he is remarkably capable of doing so.

Dave Grohl

The middle section of the show (already 2 hours in) featured the Foo Fighters returning to the stage with different singers and drummers. The first guests brought the most press of the night, as Def Leppard’s Joe Elliot, Phil Collen & Rick Savage were joined by Weezer’s Patrick Wilson for “Rock Of Ages” (called it) and Photograph (thought they’d pour a little sugar instead). On the latter song Miley Cyrus came out to duet with Joe Elliot as a sea of phones were raised to record it. Derek Day came out and sang “Live Wire” and “Home Sweet Home” with Nikki Sixx & Tommy Lee from Mötley Crüe, then Josh Homme joined Elliot Easton from The Cars for “Shake It Up” and “Just What I Needed”. I had thought Nancy Wilson of Heart would have shown up play “These Dreams” (which she sings lead on), but instead they brought up P!nk and drummer Jon Theodore (from Queens of the Stone Age) for a run through “Barracuda”. Stewart Copeland did the same set with the Foos as London: “Next To You” and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”, but on the latter Dave surrendered vocal duties to Jon Davison, back again. Seemingly the only act to not get an introduction, Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers counted off “You Oughta Know” as Alanis Morissette flew in from the side of the stage. Finally Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath) & Lars Ulrich (Metallica) joined for a run through some Black Sabbath classics: “Supernaut” and “Paranoid”.

Nancy Wilson P!nk

The next part was my favorite. Jack Black strode onstage to introduce Rush. They played the same set as London: “2112 Part I: Overture”, “Working Man” & “YYZ”, but instead of Dave playing the first two on drums and Omar Hakim playing “YYZ”, Dave slid out and Chad Smith slid in between the first two, and Tool’s Danny Carey took over for “YYZ”. One of the rumors for the gig had been the possibility of a Nirvana reunion, since Joan Jett had sung for them at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Krist Novselic was in the bill. Instead we got a taste of the I Am The Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell tribute concert from 2019 as Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil from Soundgarden were joined by Krist Novselic on bass with Taylor Momsen (from The Pretty Reckless) on vocals for “The Day I Tried To Live” and “Black Hole Sun”. Great stuff, and the first time I’d seen Krist Novselic (or Taylor Momsen). Then Queen came out with thunderous drums, as both Roger & Rufus Taylor were there, along with once again Justin Hawkins (surely the MVP for both shows) on “We Will Rock You” (a medley of slow and fast versions). Roger Taylor took lead on his “I’m In Love With My Car”, then Justin returned to duet with Roger on “Under Pressure”, and finally P!nk returned to take us through “Somebody To Love”. Everyone left but Brian May, and he told us how Alison Hawkins, Taylor’s wife, had asked for him to do “Love Of My Life” as it was their song. So he did it with help from all of us singing along.

Queen

It was after 11PM by this point, and finally time for the main event: Foo Fighters. They started with “All My Life” (with Josh Freese), then P!nk came back to duet on “The Pretender” (with Jon Theodore). Travis Barker returned to drum on “Walk”, and Matt Cameron came back for “Low” (Dave acknowledged the drum fill owed a debt to Soundgarden’s “Jesus Christ Pose”). Rage Against The Machine’s Brad Wilk filled the drum throne for “This Is A Call”, while Patrick Wilson was up again for the next two songs, starting with “The Sky Is A Neighborhood”. At this point in the London show, Paul McCartney came out unannounced. The surprise here was more out of left field, as the band started into Radiohead’s “Creep” and Dave Chappelle came out to sing it (in London he’d told stories of Taylor instead). The only mosh pit of the night started as Omar Hakim subbed in for “Run”. “Best Of You” was next as Rufus Taylor was back on drums (I really think he may be the next drummer for the Foos). Finally they brought out Taylor’s son Shane to play “My Hero” and “I’ll Stick Around”. Dave did a solo “Everlong” to close out London, but here Chad Smith joined them for the last song before we left on a high, 5 1/2 hours after it began.

Foo Fighters

It may have been the best one I’ve ever attended, and that’s after crossing 3,000 concerts a couple years ago. I was inspired to create this chart that shows where in the songs came from, making the show an excellent primer for rock in the last 50 years.

chart

September

On Friday the 2nd, the ladies took advantage of the day off from school and all got pedicures. Of course it was Nina’s birthday, and we took her to Melting Pot for the first time to celebrate. She liked all three fondues, but being able to dip fruit and brownies in s’mores and pure chocolate at the end was her favorite. Saturday the ladies went apple picking while Dave and I sat out on the deck on watched the livestream of the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert from London. I thought it was insanely awesome. I especially liked Foo Fighters covering The Police with Stewart Copeland on drums when we were about to go see Sting that night. Originally we were going to take Nina with us, but since Sue and Dave were there, Sue stayed home with her and Dave came to the show and had a good time. Labor Day I took Dave fishing on the boat.

Nina Jill Sue Dave Kerry

Friday the 9th Nina woke up very congested and didn’t want to go to school. A Covid test was negative, but Jill urged me to go to the walk in clinic for Nina’s pediatrician. They were very busy and we waited outside for an hour for a room to open. They tested her for strep and flu, and to my surprise, she had the flu. She was mostly upset that meant her birthday party (a sleepover with her friends) would be bumped to October. That night I went to Patty Griffin & Neko Case at Wolf Trap, great sets by each. Nina was taking Theraflu and mostly just sat around watching YouTube and playing Minecraft. She missed a Girl Scouts meeting, so they walked over to give her some well wishes. Jill felt she could go back to school on Tuesday.

Nina

It was a rare concert tripleheader the following weekend. Friday the 16th was Jill and I going to the Encore Circle, then enjoying Boyz II Men with SWV bringing some new jack swing to a sold out Wolf Trap. How did I not know that Shawn Stockman from Boyz II Men could shred? He did a very respectable cover of “Wonderful Tonight”. Saturday we went to The Food Market again (dinner and a show really makes me want to go to more shows at Merriweather Post Pavilion), then walked over to the Outlaw Music Festival where we saw Zach Bryan, The Avett Brothers & Willie Nelson (Nina says “how could you drag me to see country music?”). Then Sunday I went solo to Porcupine Tree at The Anthem for their first tour in 12 years (3rd row from the presale didn’t suck).

Boyz II Men

On Saturday the 24th we were up not too early to get to Dulles for a 12:30 flight to Los Angeles. The flight was uneventful. We chose a cheaper car rental company, Priceless Car Rental. That meant we took the Renaissance Hotel shuttle and went up to the top of the parking garage where there office was. It was amusing to me a guy arrived after me cut in line to be next, and then I got a Mercedes Benz C300 while he got a Kia. Once we got to our hotel, the lovely Hotel MdR Marina del Rey, we were hungry and decided to walk over to Burger Lounge, eating outside. I went to the Pavilions grocery store, which turned out to be another store in the Safeway chain, to pick up some medicine and snacks. After for relaxing a while with the Wi-Fi in the room, we were still hungry, so we walked over to Capri Gelato & Coffee for dessert. Nina still had energy later but Jill didn’t, so we went down to the pool and she swam while I watched.

Nina

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel buffet, then both Jill and Nina had online meetings. We gave Jill the room and went to the empty café next to pool so she could attend her Girl Scouts meeting. I walked over to T-Mobile to get a USB-C to USB-C cable as the Benz only had those ports. After that we hopped in the car and drove to Autozone as the Benz also had funky vents and couldn’t hold my phone holder. I tried to order one online, but they were out of stock so I picked one up at the store. Then we went north to Santa Clarita where Jill’s cousin lives with her husband and son (Jill’s aunt and uncle live nearby). We hung out and chatted while the kids played outside, then we had takeout pizza from Tomato Joe’s.

Nina

We left as it was getting dark, I took Jill and Nina back to the hotel where they swam. I met up with my friend Jay (from Shantytowne) at the legendary Whisky A Go-Go. We were there for the return of Robby Krieger (from The Doors) 55 years after The Doors got their start there for a sold out show. We picked a good spot on the balcony for what turned out to be a very long show (not bad for an 76 year old).

Nina

Monday Nina wanted pho, so we went to Blossom Vietnamese when they opened and sat outside in the sun. I dropped Jill and Nina at the hotel to swim while I continued on to Soundsations, which had a lovely used CD section. We then drove up to Santa Monica where we parked in a garage, got some boba tea from Sharetea, then walked down to the Santa Monica Pier and looked around, then Nina and Jill frolicked in the ocean for a bit.

Nina Jill

We cleaned off in the hotel, then met our friend Teresa (also from Shantytowne), her daughter Pauline and their dog Dandy at a nearby playground/dog park where all the young ones got to play. Then we went to their house where her husband Travis had come home and we got takeout from xxxxxx before heading back to the hotel.

Travis Kerry Teresa Jill Nina

Tuesday I’d managed to snag timed tickets at The Broad for both Kusama’s infinity room and the museum (the museum is free but the parking definitely isn’t). Nina didn’t want to go into the infinity room, but she was taken by the modern art in the museum itself. Nina wasn’t in love with the main reason for our trip (later that night), but as a budding K-pop fan, definitely wanted to go to Koreatown. We started with a lovely lunch at Yellow House, which had several open air rooms around a courtyard.

Nina

Next we went down to Koreatown Plaza, an indoor mall. We walked around and Nina really liked Music Plaza, I bought her several CDs (Twice and Jennie’s single). Next stop was a music store for me, Amoeba Music. Nina wasn’t really interested, but Jill had seen Funko Hollywood across the street, and both Nina and I were very happy with our purchases. We also had to make a stop so Nina could take a picture of the iconic Hollywood sign (who knew that the Hollywood Home Depot is a good place to stop?).

Nina

Jay was planning on coming with us that evening, but had caught something non-Covid but bad. We asked Teresa and Travis since they were local and had expressed some interest, and Travis agreed to come. So we got back as quickly as possible given the traffic (The Californians don’t exaggerate), then I walked over to Sharky’s and we ate and went outside where Travis was waiting for us. I made parking reservations for a garage about a half mile away. I’d planned on reviewing the show in this month’s entry, but that review is so long it’s getting its own entry. Travis dropped us back at the hotel afterwards, where we had only a couple hours sleep until we had to checkout and get to the airport for an early flight back on Alaska Airlines.

Nina

August

Monday the 1st Nina was back at RCC’s Camp Goodtimes on the Road. She was happiest about the trip to the Water Mine on Friday. We all had telehealth appointments that night as we were up early the next day to start our big, twice postponed vacation: the final Eddie From Ohio cruise to Alaska. Our travel karma was very good on the way out, as while many folks had delayed or canceled flights, we got to San Francisco without any issues. We had breakfast in the airport there: a Bacon Bacon bowl for me and Proposition Chicken wings for Nina (Jill picked up some See’s Candies for later).

Nina

We got to Vancouver and quickly got through Customs. We took the SkyTrain to downtown Vancouver and walked over to our hotel. I wasn’t sure until we got there, but the Embarc resort there is actually the top 3 floors of the Sheraton, and we were soon checking out some lovely views of the city. We were off, Jill and Nina for clothes and shoes and me to Beat Street for CDs (best haul of the trip). We went out again for dinner at The Mexican for tacos and margaritas. Amazon.ca delivered the camera memory cards I’d ordered the day before (by signing up for a Prime trial).

Nina

Sunday morning we went to check out brunch at Nero Waffles, but they were full, so we got some of their mini waffles to go (very much like donuts), then went to the aptly named Brunch. I got the ribeye hash, Nina got the Eggs Benedict and a chocolate crepe, and Jill got enchiladas. Soon it was time for us to check in for our cruise, and I was glad I’d printed out our documentation, as there were several lines to go through. But we were on the Celebrity Eclipse before sailing time, and that’s what counted. Jill and Nina used the pool and hot tub while I sat on a lounge chair, then they dried off and we went to check in at the meet and great to get our shirts and badges and hear the announcements. We went to our late dinner and met the fellow Edheads at our table before heading to bed.

Eddie From Ohio Nina

Monday was all at sea as we left Canadian waters and entered USA ones. Nina tried out Camp at Sea, where it turns out she was able to check herself in and out and met new friends. In late afternoon Eddie From Ohio had their first concert with lots of classics and a couple nice covers (only my 3rd time hearing their cover of Scarlet Begonias). We got drinks from the martini bar and went to see the cruise only show Topper after that, and were pleasantly surprised it was a pop jukebox musical with Cirque like aerialists.

Kerry Nina Jill

Sitka was our first stop in Alaska on Tuesday. We took a bus to town, stopped at the coffee shop and the bookstore. We had decided not to pay for the Wi-Fi service on ship and only had cell service in port, which meant no YouTube for Nina. As a consolation, I offered to buy her a book, and she chose the first two books in Chris Colfer’s “A Tale of Magic…” series. We picked up some kettle corn on the way back to the bus, then waited at the pier for our excursion. The Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest was exactly as described (asides from the irony of spending the first 10 minutes looking for a bald eagle when we saw one in a tree when we docked). We got fairly close to a raft of sea otters, then saw three different humpback whales and three Steller sea lions snoozing on a marker buoy. I picked up some hot sauce made with kelp from the gift shop, and that was useful for the rest of the trip. That night we paid extra to eat at Le Petite Chef, which had animation on the table for each course – it was very cute and delicious too. After dinner we watched the Production Cast cover British songs in the Sky lounge.

Kerry Jill

Wednesday was another day at sea, but this time we were going by something special: the Hubbard Glacier. After a very slow approach, Captain Leo got us within half a mile of it, then slowly turned the ship so we could get a good view (after we got soaked on deck, I preferred that). As we pulled away, we paid extra to eat at the Sushi on Five restaurant, where we had some nice views of waterfalls. The second Eddie From Ohio concert was that afternoon. Jill and Nina decided to skip in favor of swimming at the indoor pool during family hours, which worked in their favor as they both felt a little seasick in the ocean and felt fine once they got in the pool (which created natural waves). The concert was another bunch of their classic tunes with no repeats from the first one. And since I was videoing in the back row, no one recorded me when I danced like a maniac during “Eddie’s Concubine”. Later the Production Cast did a selection of Broadway songs called the Broadway Cabaret, and everyone enjoyed that (I think Nina knew half the songs).

glacier

Thursday the 11th we docked in Juneau. We left the ship and walked over to Alaskan Crepe Escape where Nina and I had crepes. It was like a parked food truck park. Jill got coffee and I also got drinks (including a draft beer) from the Beer Truck. After that we split up and they went to the Changing Tides yarn shop while I went to Downtown Disc (hard to find, but worth it). We’d planned on meeting up at Heritage Coffee Roasting Co. but they had no outside seating, so we went to the nearby Sacred Grounds (run by and for native Alaskans) and sat outside so we all could use their Wi-Fi (including Nina). Jill went shopping and came back with grilled chicken from Bernadette’s BBQ tent near the ship (she said all the people who work on the ship were waiting in line there, which was a good sign). Nina liked it so much I came back with more.

Nina

They kept shopping after that, and I went back to the ship as I’d neglected to charge my camera battery. So I read in our room, then walked over to Tracy’s Crab Shack 2. The Edhead cruise portion had an optional excursion that day: a jumbo crab leg and a concert from Eddie From Ohio as they’d rented out the whole place. We got a decent seat and some good crab (Jill had picked up some unsalted butter for me) and beers. The concert was again filled with classics, with only one repeat: “Rocky Mountain High/Old Dominion” (there were several Alaskan fans there as well). After the show Nina played in the pool with some other Edhead kids while I and other parents watched, and by the time our late dinnertime rolled around we were all hungry for which turned out to be our last dinner, too bad as our waiter was entertaining Nina (and everyone else) with his magic tricks.

Eddie From Ohio

The next morning I went to the band question and answer session, then watched the ship dock in Ketchikan while Nina and Jill went to breakfast. Nina had been stuffy the night before, and after breakfast announced she was going back to sleep, which is extremely unusual for her. Jill had planned to check out a yarn shop, so left the ship and had started walking when Nina woke up and was burning hot. I called Jill and had her pick up Tylenol, a thermometer, and a Covid test. Sure enough, after managing to avoid it for 2 ½ years, she finally caught it, even though we’d been masking everywhere inside the ship except in the restaurants. We called the ship and they had us come down to the medical area, where they tested her again with the same result. They escorted us back to our room and told us to isolate there. They gave us Wi-Fi and we started looking up what to do next. Jill and I both tested negative, and they offered us the chance for one of us to move to another room and not isolate and we both declined. They started by offering us room service and no alcohol off our beverage plans, and we got that changed to the regular menu. I was very glad we had a balcony and spent almost all my time for the remaining two days there.

Jill Nina

Saturday we were at sea all day and in our room. Jill and I both tested negative again. The Wi-Fi worked well enough for Nina to watch YouTube, but was more intermittent for Jill and I. I mostly read digital comics outside on the balcony, plus Bob and Susan brought us drinks. The food was good – weird to eat lobster in your room, though. It was interesting to be forced to just look at the scenery, as we’d passed into Canada and I hadn’t seen it on the way out. We missed the last concert of course, but so did singer Robbie.

Canada

Sunday it was time to disembark. We had a choice of staying on the ship until quarantine was over (5 days) or getting off in Canada and quarantining (10 days, but the Celebrity cruise line would cover $350USD/day). After 2 days, we already knew we could not continue on the ship (although Robbie did and got off in Juneau and flew home from there). We asked them to book us a room at the Century Plaza hotel. We left our room and went up to the Sky lounge to join the other outcasts (including 2 other Edhead families) and wait for them to take us to a bus. We did a lot of waiting (close to 2 hours), but finally we got on a bus and they dropped us at the Century Plaza hotel. That’s when we found out we didn’t have a reservation. After being on hold with Celebrity for over an hour, apparently when we had no cell service we were supposed to book a room and they just wanted to know the address to drop us off. Happily the Century Plaza hotel offered us a suite even though they didn’t have any online. It had an actual kitchen where the other hotel we looked at didn’t, and some serious space – we agreed as soon as the manager showed it to us. Once we were in the room and everyone had Wi-Fi, I placed another Amazon.ca order – most important was another Fire stick. That night I had to get some takeout. Nina wanted Chipotle, but Jill and I got food from The Basil Box (spiciest meal in a week). We also ordered groceries from Fresh St. Market and beer and wine from Darby’s Liquor Store.

Vancouver

Monday the 15th I found getmaple.ca and got a telehealth appointment quickly and was able to get refills on my blood pressure medicine (because I was the only one who’d only packed a week’s medication). I went to Pharmasave and picked it up, then Jill went to IGA for more groceries. I made the ribs we’d bought for dinner (“Maui”, half the size of the box they came in). Jill and I felt we both had Covid, but due to Canada’s strict laws, didn’t test (it also required us to essentially isolate with Nina, which we did except for picking up stuff, and we were always masked). That Fire stick arrived, so that night I stayed up late and started watching the final season of The Expanse (since I had Prime again).

Vancouver

Tuesday I’d also ordered some graphic novels for Nina from Amazon.ca with the hope she wouldn’t use her devices as much. She did like them, and tore through them in 2 hours, then it was back to devices. I picked up Jollibee and Pacific Pizzeria & Ristorante for dinner (the spicy chicken from Jollibee is very good). Wednesday I went to IGA for more groceries and Freshii to pick up salads. I got some drinks at the bar at the steak restaurant in the hotel because I wanted a break from beer. I had run out of digital comics, so I pulled down the ComiXology app (Amazon has ruined the web version, but the app still works ok) to pull down a bunch of the comics I’ve bought or gotten for free, including most of Marvel’s Black Panther runs.

Vancouver

Thursday Nina’s isolation was over, and we were all feeling better. We walked over to Fresh St. Market, then Jill took the groceries back and Nina and I went over to Emery Barnes Park. We noticed that although the symptoms were gone, no one was 100%, so we didn’t push it. Jill was feeling good enough to stay up late, so we started watching The Sandman. Friday we went to Good Co. Granville in the afternoon and played pinball and Mario Kart, then went to The Templeton and got takeout – burgers, fish & chips, and shakes.

Nina

Saturday we wandered down to Granville to check out the Promenade but didn’t stay long as the sun was hot. Jill and Nina liked the look of Babylon Café and picked some lunch up there. I went the to the Spirit of Howe liquor store and got more beer, plus I verified I couldn’t pick up the official Rush beer (they don’t sell beer across provinces). Sunday Jill went to IGA for groceries.

Vancouver

Monday the 22nd Jill and I were feeling good enough to travel. She took a bus to Baaad Anna’s Yarn Store, then we all went together to Golden Age Collectables where Nina got a book, then I took the SkyTrain and a good walk to get to Red Cat Records (got a couple CDs). Meanwhile Jill and Nina went to the Indigo bookstore. We had a very early morning on Tuesday (I got 3 hours of sleep) as we got a Lyft to the airport. We went straight to security, then we discovered we were going through customs there (we must have done it in when we went to Montreal) and made it to our gate only minutes before they started boarding. That flight was fine, and we had a little time in San Francisco to get food. We got back at sundown and had a whirlwind of getting ready for the next day.

Vancouver

Wednesday the 24th was a very busy day. It was Nina’s first day of school, as well as the first day of work in a while for Jill and I. I was supposed to do a VIP visit with the The Decemberists (soundcheck + q & a) at Wolf Trap, but I barely made it to the merch booth before they packed up to get my stuff and see the show (and it was a great show – I even stayed through the encore). Saturday some folks on the lake host a cover band on their floating docks. We didn’t get too close, but we did tie up some of our boats so the kids could swim (and the adults could talk).

Nina

Sunday I’d seen that The John Popper Project was playing at The Bullpen after an afternoon Nationals game. I drove in around the time they were estimated to go on (it was a 4 band show), only to find the 3rd band still hadn’t gone one. So I headed down to the nearby Atlas Brewing and had a beer, a salad, and a couple slices of pizza. I still saw most of The Last Real Circus, but not many people were left by 8:45 when The John Popper Project, but the people there got something special. They put an album in 2006, and I didn’t know they toured. After some research, I found they performed songs from the album, some covers, and occasionally a Blues Traveler song. This show happened to be the 21nd birthday of John’s second cousin, so in addition to their songs, threw in her requests of Blues Traveler classics. Listen here: https://archive.org/details/jpdt2022-08-28

Kerry Jill

Wednesday the 31st Sue and Dave came to visit. I’ve long been an admirer of José Andrés’ restaurants, and we’ve been to several, from Jaleo to barmini. But minibar was always a goal of mine, and when we were talking about long term planning, I decided I wanted to go to minibar for my 50th birthday. Which was in 2020. So after they finally reopened in fall 2021, I put it back on my bucket list. After Jill said her mom was coming to visit for a week around Nina’s birthday starting on the 31st, when reservations for minibar on the 31st were available at the beginning of July, I snapped them up. Jill’s mom and Dave got down in plenty of time, and Jill and I arrived right on time. We were soon seated at the chef’s table for 12, and had to wait as the last couple was nearly 30 minutes late. They had some concern that they wouldn’t able to give me a low sodium meal, until the maître’d compared their seasoning to Jaleo, where we’d just eaten. Jill choose two of the additions to the menu, truffles added to three dishes and the non-alcoholic drink pairing, which was extremely inventive. The fancy cocktail I got was the bespoke coctail D.O.C., with pear vodka, truffle honey and Dom Perignon. Minibar is essentially a very long tasting menu, with very small bites for each course. My favorite was “Toad in the Hole”, where a tofu patty stood in for egg white. The frozen salad was very cool, and reminded me of the frozen Cheetos in Montreal – when I mentioned that, one of the chefs mentioned that they did that first. A couple of dishes were too salty for me to eat, but I just abstained from them. To recognize my birthday, as well as our anniversary, they brought us some special cocktails to wrap things up.

Jill Kerry

July

Friday the 1st was the day of Nina’s show at acting camp, so Jill got the day off and we drove over to see an odd social media take on The Wizard of Oz. We drove separately so they could run errands and I came back home to keep working. Saturday was Jill’s birthday and after I ran errands like picking up beer at Aslin and more plants from Reston Farm Garden Market, we went over to Ford’s Fish Shack. Nina ordered a whole lobster like me, but wouldn’t touch it when it came so I got two! – I brought my own butter this time. She snacked off Jill’s fried seafood and then got her own fish and chips. Later we gave Jill her gifts.

Nina Jill Kerry

Sunday I’d purchased some of the fireworks stand fireworks and Nina and I set them off in the backyard. Monday was the 4th and we went out on the lake and tied up with the Grunspans to watch the show. Nina liked setting off a Chinese lantern from the boat. Tuesday Nina was back at RA Camp, this time for her favorite Art Camp: My Mom Would Never Let Me Do That! Or it used to be – apparently after the time we signed up she decided it was for little kids, and was very upset to go. But we convinced he to try it out for one day, and she ended up making friends and stayed for the rest of the week.

Nina

Wednesday I went to Jammin’ Java for the first non-Nina show since the pandemic started to see Séan McCann (from Great Big Sea). He was Nina’s third concert, but it was just me this time, and he did a nice selection of his recent tunes plus some Great Big Sea classics and great stories. Friday I also had a concert, but for the first time since Jill’s been working in Stone Ridge, she wasn’t able to get out in time for me to go. So I brought Nina to her when she got out of work, and continued on my way to Jiffy Lube Live. I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal to park as the concert had started, but I was so very wrong. By the time I got tired of waiting and forced a parking spot over the curb, the first set had ended. Still, I was in my seat with a tasty giant can of beer by the time Dead & Company returned, and they still played a good long time. When I met my friend Stuart, it was because of Eddie From Ohio, but we soon bonded over a shared love of jam bands. We went to Phish, String Cheese Incident & Allman Brothers Band, but had to see the originators as well. We saw The Dead, Furthur and Dear Jerry: Celebrating The Music of Jerry Garcia, and the last show I saw him at was the first Dead & Company tour. Until this night, that was the last I’d seen any of them either, but it felt like it was time. So I said “Here’s to you, Stu.” (Janice, I hope I’m doing it right – I’m not drinking 6 of these behemoths)

Bow Weir

Saturday Jill went to a drag bunch with coworkers and we had a family pinball tournament. Monday the 11th Nina was back at RA’s Day Camp Session. She got her new Invisalign braces that day. We ate outside at Little Beast on Friday the 15th. We were very busy on Saturday as Nina was leaving for her first sleepaway camp. We did some last minute shopping and prepared postcards and a care package that they would deliver later in the week. Sunday we headed over to the Fairfax County Government Center where we signed in and all the Girl Scouts got on buses and headed down to Camp May Flather. After Jill and I finished the rest of our weekly chores, we picked up cheesesteaks from Santinis before going to see Toad the Wet Sprocket, Gin Blossoms & Barenaked Ladies at Wolf Trap. I was delighted that show put me above 3000 shows at setlist.fm.

setlist

The week went by fast without Nina. The camp posted pictures to a private Facebook group, and it was the most pictures of her at camp I’d gotten since she was in preschool. I’d taken advantage of Wolf Trap’s perk for members to trade tickets with changing plans, and picked up 2 concerts that week: Gabe Dixon, Los Lobos & Tedeschi Trucks Band (they’d only gotten better since I’d seen them 6 years prior, but Los Lobos had a singer out with Covid and Susan Tedeschi sat in with them) and Quinn Christopherson, Julien Baker, Angel Olsen & Sharon Van Etten (the first show of their Wild Hearts tour, but only Angel Olsen & Sharon Van Etten performed together on the last song of the night).

Nina

I sent Nina an email every night. Here they are:
Sunday
Tonight we went to Wolf Trap. We had planned on taking you before you signed up for May Flather, but you would have been bored. Mommy even stood up and danced a lot, so you would probably have been embarrassed too.
We heard the large group opening campfire was cancelled due to rain. We hope your small campfire went well. We love and miss you, and hope you have a great day Monday!

Monday
After the 3 storms we got yesterday, we only got one today, and I finally finished cleaning the boat (remember how bad the life jackets smelled?). I made ribs for dinner, and Mom and I took a walk around Audobon after dinner, but we were sweating as the humidity went right back up again.
We hear you have a little cooler weather and went creek hopping and did archery today. We hope you got to go swimming too. The time travelling all camp sounds like fun, can’t wait for you to tell us all about it.

Tuesday
Tonight I didn’t see your mom until 11 at night. She had to run errands after work, while I went to a show at Wolf Trap at 6. I saw Los Lobos & the Tedeschi Trucks Band. I saw one girl about your age who had a phone and noise cancelling headphones who gave her dad such an eyeroll she reminded me of you.
I was misinformed about the time travelling last night – instead you had the dutch auction that looked fun. You’ll have to explain to us why the stuffed animal was inside your poncho.
So you tie dyed and did the challenge course today? Fun. We can’t wait to see your shirt and hear what a glow tower session is.
It sounds like it was as hot there as it was here today. I only had to chase the geese away once before they gave up. I had breakfast for lunch (eggs and toast), then I was planning on having tacos for dinner, but Mom brought home some of Miss Arcelia’s chili, so we had that on hot dogs instead. I’m waiting until almost bedtime to walk outside.
Using slingshots sounds cool. I wonder if you’re as good with them as you are with a bow and arrow. I hope someone takes a video of your skit or song tomorrow.
I’m dreading tomorrow evening – I’m going to a long concert at Wolf Trap, and it’s going to be super hot. I was pretty hot last night (since I’m still wearing a mask), but tomorrow’s going to be worse. I’m thinking of bringing a bucket of ice and wearing it like a hat.

Thursday
So that concert at Wolf Trap? There was a big storm in the afternoon today, and it was the coolest concert of the whole week! It was a bunch of indie rock queens, but now I’m tired.
A sleep in breakfast and a Spa morning sounds like the perfect day for you. We can’t wait to see you when the bus rolls in tomorrow.
It’s Mom’s night to choose food, and we may just go nearby in Fairfax and eat there.
Love you and miss you,
Mom & Dad

Nina

Nina got back from camp Friday night and we ate at nearby Coastal Flats on their patio. I thought it would be hard to get Nina out of the house to go see the musical Six in DC the next day, but the songs had already earwormed her and she was playing them that morning. It was a hot day so I dropped them at the National Theatre while I parked near our final destination and walked back, joining them just in time for the matinee – I can’t imagine a more perfect show for a tween who likes both Hamilton and Blackpink. Afterwards we walked down to Jaleo, where Nina got her favorite Spanish food, seafood paella and Jill and I got lots of tapas to share. In spite of the heat, the shaded by umbrellas and vegetation patio was very comfortable (although the frozen sangria I got helped immensely).

Nina Jill

Monday the 25th Nina started RCC’s Camp Goodtimes on the Road where they basically take a field trip each day. The week was going fine until she realized we’d be leaving for the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival on Thursday night and she’d miss the trip to the water park on Friday (she was pretty salty about it until she went to the same camp the next week and learned they’d canceled due to storms). We did leave Thursday night as planned and ended up staying in the same hotel in Edison, NJ as when we did the same thing in 2019 (thanks, Hilton points). We did one bad thing, which was to try and get drinks from Sonic and food from White Castle, and ended up waiting nearly an hour as 3 huge dudes ordered a box of 100 sliders, then discovered that Sonic didn’t get any of our drinks correct.

95

We got back on the road and made it to Goshen, CT by early afternoon. We had a look around, then Jill helped me set up the tent and they hit the road to spend the weekend at Jill’s sister’s house and their improved pool. I was fine with hanging with the rest of our Shantytowne friends – a weekend watching live music and sitting around drinking beer is never overrated by me. I really liked my new finds of TEOA (The End of America) and the Oshima Brothers, and it was nice to see Crys Matthews again.

Nina

Would you like to get all 3 of Jonathan Coulton’s original songs for Valve’s Portal for $1 total?

Yes, I’m a JoCo superfan, but I’ve been listening to my entire music collection and recently got to him and realized I only had one of the original songs, “You Wouldn’t Know” (from LEGO Dimensions), that was available in his “New Folder” EP.

I do have versions of “Still Alive” & “Want You Gone” that he rerecorded on 2011’s Artificial Heart, but I wanted the original ones with Ellen McLain’s vocals from the Portal series. So I went looking, and found the soundtracks for sale at the usual digital retailers, but then I wondered if maybe it was available (and cheaper) on Steam? It was available – at the low, low price of free!

So log into your Steam account if you have one (and why not get one, they also offer free games for PC), pick up the soundtracks for Portal and Portal 2 (they also provide the FLAC version), then head over to Jonathan Coulton’s website (about 3/4 down the page) and pick up “You Wouldn’t Know” for just $1!