July 12th is a day that I will remember for the rest of my life….it was “the day I got pushed out”! By that I mean it is my birthday. July 12th1982 little old me popped in and the world as I knew it was about to change (primarily because I didn’t know the world yet lol). I share the date with my father, who is 30 years my senior and every year I see a little bit more of him in everything I do. Quite a few others share the 12th of July birth date, most notably Michelle Rodriguez, Brock Lesner, Kristie Yamaguci and Mr. JELLO himself Bill-FREAKING-Cosby (now that’s some serious dancin’ on your face!)! That’s pretty cool huh?
This year my birthday fell on a Tuesday, so that sucked but we decided to celebrate on the Saturday prior which was pretty awesome!! My wife decided to throw me a birthday house concert this year, and seeing as how we know so many of the local performers it was looking to be an amazing night. We had a lot of the local guys that I have been pumping up in my last few entries Kenny Eng, Trent Hancock, John Hull, and Rob Deez. Unfortunately Trent and Rob had shows later that evening so they didn’t get to play, but they showed up and hung out for a while which was pretty awesome. Trent even brought some home grown tomatoes and fresh baked cookies for me that were REALLY GOOD, so if he stops singing he can open up a vegetable and cookie store lol.
The reason for the house concert was twofold. Fold one, we wanted to hear some good music and fold two, we really wanted to introduce some of our friends to some of the great musicians that we know. I think we did a pretty good job at that. Even for the guys that didn’t get a chance to perform they met some of our people and intrigued them to the point where I keep getting text messages from my friends that can’t wait to see all the performers again. Aside from that we had some old friends meet new friends and some of them made some new contacts as well. Everyone bonded over great conversation, amazing music, and some of the best chicken and sausage jambalaya (made by my wonderful wife) I’ve had in a long time. We all worked so hard with the set up and planning for this and it paid off tremendously. I am such a moron for not getting pictures of everything, but everyone that was there seemed to be really impressed by everything. So to everyone who came and had a good time I want to say THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU ALL!!! I want to give a big shout out to Angelica, my sister (no "in-law" needed) and Wazi (our “sister”) for all of the help with the set up and clean up, we love you guys so much!
I got some amazing gifts and hilarious cards from everyone and one of my favorite cards came from my wife’s grandmother. It was a simple card with not a whole lot written in it but every year since I became part of their family she has sent me a card without missing a beat. This year is different because we lost my wife’s grandfather this year and it has taken its toll on everyone, especially since their anniversary is on July 10th. The simple act of sending me a card then calling me on my actual birthday to just sing me happy birthday meant the world to me. I love you and Grandfather is still with you…
Some of the other amazing gifts that I received where a 12-string guitar (yes I not only love music I dabble in it myself), a great set of clippers/beard trimmers (because keeping this hair do is rough work). I got some running shoes that will help out on those 5 plus mile walks my wife and I do every other day, some new underwear to add to the 4 pair I already own (that’s right now you know so much about me), a set of chef knives that are absolutely gorgeous (made from one piece of surgical steel and cut so very clean), a set of business cards that will help me promote my blog, and oh yeah I got a TV and some measly Santana tickets…..ok so it’s not just a TV it is a 46 inch HDTV 1080p, 4xHDMI, and all that awesomeness!!!! This TV is so freakin huge! It takes up my entire entertainment center!!!! I love it…..to say the least, and are you kidding me SANTANA tickets???!!!! I have wanted to see him since I was old enough to pick up a guitar!! Those were all from my wife isn’t she freaking awesome!!!! Stay tuned for more on that concert because I will be sitting so close he will be sweating all over me!! Gross, but for some reason I can’t wait!!
I got some gifts from my other friends as well like a beautiful necklace from Costa Rica made from beads and wood from Camille and Ivon, and a cool little candle from Dave and Kari at Food Farm, thank you guys. I also got some gift cards from a few of my friends and I actually love when I get those. Some people think that’s lazy gifting but I look at it like they want me to get what I want with no error room on their part, it’s really smart and I do it when I can. Since I am no good at proper protocol when it comes to thank you cards please think of this as a digital THANK YOU that will last forever on the web!
The Tuesday that my actual birthday fell on was a blur for the first 10 hours of me being awake because I had to go to work. I really wanted to take the day off but since I got the 4th off my paycheck would not allow me that luxury, so I fought through the day’s drama and hurried home for the evening. We ended up going to one of the better steak houses in the San Diego area (or where ever else they are), I’m talking about Ruth Chris Steakhouse. The reservation was made for one of the window seats facing the bay at 7pm, just in time for a beautiful view of the sunset. When I got there the hostess that took us to the seats wished me a happy birthday (thank god they don’t sing and makes asses of themselves and why would they? They are a pretty high end spot.), and put a hand full of little “HAPPY B-DAY!!” sprinkles on the table. That was a nice subtle touch.
When my waiter came to the table he took our orders and I started with a plate of crab stuffed mushrooms (out of this world and is making me hungry just thinking about them) that had this meatieness that felt like I was eating mini steaks stuffed with stove top stuffing (best stuffing ever I don’t care who you are) and delicious lump crab meat, and a cowboy rib eye…. Unfortunately a large party that came in before us ordered all of them. I was bummed, here it is my b-day and I can’t get the meal I wanted….never fear because our amazing waiter was there! He recommended a delicious bone in 20oz NY strip. I never say this but “OMFG” it was amazing! Cooked to a perfect medium doneness and served still cooking in butter….mmmmmmmmmmmmm BUTTER!!!! It had a taste that only heaven could come close to. If I had the chance I would have French kissed the cow that they served me and with every bite I’m sure I looked like I was. Each bite fell apart in my mouth and it was all I could do to not shove the whole steak in my mouth in one extra amazing bite. My only problem with the evening was that it had to end. For the dessert they brought me a beautifully made strawberry shortcake with these delicious little dark chocolate turtle candies, they were great and I got a few extra because my wife doesn’t like chocolate so yay for me!! All in all the night was absolutely wonderful….pricey but wonderful if you have the chance I recommend you go there.
Now along with the great house concert I went to a few others around the same time, the first show I went to wasn’t a musical show but comedy. It was pretty awesome the only downfall was that we were sat right in front of the stage….the AREA OF DEATH at comedy shows, so we were ready to get ripped to shreds by the comics. Luckily the comics didn’t say a word to us and just did their show, thank God. Most of these guys were pretty funny but some of them were awful. I’m just happy that the guy we went to see (Dave Rich from Food Farm) was funny because I’m a jerk and didn’t want to have to let him know he stunk even though I would have. Another show that I got the chance to go to was the India Arie show at Anthology’s in San Diego. Even though the venue sucked hard (not sound wise but service) she sounded really great! She performed with a guy named Idan Raichel who sounded amazing even though his songs are mostly in Hebrew. His voice and piano skills were so beautiful and the two of them sounded great together. India brought her mother on stage to do some vocals over one of his piano parts and WOW she is not only an amazing singer but pretty damn fly on top of that. I would never have picked her as India’s mom because she looks so young and dressed like a 20 year old and pulled it off wonderfully! GO MOM!!! India focused a lot on her new project with Idan, which was cool but I was hoping for some stuff to sing along to. In any case she sounded amazing and I am glad that I went. We got the chance for a meet and greet after the show with India but Idan was nowhere to be seen. I was happy to give her my blog address and she asked me if I was going to blog about her and I said I would, so India I hope you are reading! Unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to take pictures with her because the crappy security guards at the venue were rushing everyone out the door, so BOO to them! Here they are performing “Gift of Acceptance” I hope you enjoy it.
A concert that I went to last night to kind of wrap up the birthday week was at my new favorite local spot Lestat’s to see Joel Eckels.
We first saw him earlier this year in SD doing a singer/songwriter round with the amazing Dawn Mitschele and his bluesy vibe was great. Every song that I heard made me feel everything he was going through when he wrote them. Last night’s performance was exceptional as well. He was the only person out of the performers that I knew and really the only one I cared for. I got a chance to speak to him after the show and he really seems to be a humble and gracious performer and a really nice person too. I can’t wait to see him more. I really think that you should take a look and listen for him because he has got a pretty big following in LA and I would love to get more people introduced to him. Hopefully he will get the chance to come to my wife’s “Art in the Yard” this August so we can see him again. Even if he doesn’t sing it would be awesome just to hang and get to know him a little better. If you are ever in the LA area please check him out at either the Hotel Café or at his spot Room 5 you will thank me later! Here he is performing 2 songs from his Lestat’s from last night’s show (7/16/2011). I can't remember the name of the first song but I believe its called "Weight of These Things" and "Gave My Heart to the Devil". Joel if i got the song names wrong please get a hold of me and I will change them ASAP!
So needless to say I had an amazing birthday week! 29 is starting off really good…smash that it’s beginning to look a lot like AWESOME!!!! Thank you to everyone that contributed to this week and whether you know it or not you made this week great!!! Thanks to my loving wife for everything that you did in making my life so far full of laughter, love and happiness! You are my life and my “erf” (she loves thatJ). Thank you all for listening to me go on about how great my life has been this week. I hope that everyone that has had a birthday this week (especially on the 12th) has had an amazing one!! Until next time Gazetteers……
-Editor & Chief of The Penguin Gazette,
Rudy
P.S. I'd love to hear what you think about this topic. Please post your comments below….you know…..in the comment box?
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