They didnt even give me enough time to unpack yet!
WOOHOOO!

Dear Friends,

We are extremely pleased to announce a very special benefit for the Rex Foundation:
On Saturday, September 24th the Jerry Garcia Estate presents Comes a Time - A Celebration of the Music and Spirit of Jerry Garcia, at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA. This extraordinary evening of music features Trey Anastasio, Hmza el Din, Mickey Hart, Warren Haynes, Jimmy Herring, Bruce Hornsby, Gloria Jones, Bill Kreutzmann, Jackie LaBranch, Donna Jean McKay, David Nelson, Sandy Rothman, Melvin Seals, The String Cheese Incident members Jason Hann, Michael Kang, Keith Moseley, and Billy Nershi, Bob Weir and Ratdog members Kenny Brooks, Jeff Chimenti, Mark Karan, Jay Lane and Robin Sylvester.
Check our website for updates to the line-up: http://www.rexfoundation.org

General Admission tickets are $50, available as of August 14th through GDTS TOO - http://www.gdtstoo.com / Hotline (415) 457-6388 and TicketMaster - http://www.ticketmaster.com.

We offer you premium seating that is also an opportunity to make a charitable contribution. Special reserved and front-of-pit seats at $100 and $250 are available only through the Rex Foundation and GDTS TOO. To order reserved tickets through the Rex Foundation, call 415-561-3135 or use the order form on our website at www.rexfoundation.org. All but $50 per ticket is a charitable contribution. You can place your orders right away.

Thank you for being part of the Rex Foundation community. Because of support like yours, we are all furthering a tradition of grassroots giving that Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead inspired when they played the first Rex benefit concert 21 years ago.

Sandy Sohcot
Executive Director
sandy@rexfoundation.org
http://www.rexfoundation.org


This email was sent by: Rex Foundation
P. O. Box 29608, San Francisco, CA, 94129-0608, USA

Jerry

WOWZA!

Still recovering from an epic weekend! The (dreamy) setting, the music (omigod!) and the people- FABULOUS! It was a total convention of Dogfreaks. We came from all over to be there and I think I heard there were about 6000 tix sold? Talk about yer Terrapin!! I fell in love with just about everyone I met..Friday night I think everyone on the rail was from DNC,DotOrg or TOOBoard.
(((Jen))) luv my magnet
(((Bud))) keep an eye on the mailbox.
Hugs that were sent home with me from across the Atlantic when I was there in July were delivered to assorted Mid Atlantic freaks.West coasters sent hugs to East Coasters and now I have a ton of East Coast hugs to deliver to my local Dogheads..
It's a good job being a Hug Courier!
Can't go on before saying that Mike and GlowyGirl are awesome people. They took real good care of me, so I hope at least one of you can make it out here next month, so I can even things out a lil?
The music!! Excellent ..We listened to the cds (bought em there) of both nights on our way from West Va. to Pennsylvania and then on to Newark. And wowza, these were good shows! Scott and I just listened to the "Come Together" from Sat. and yeah! Woof! Nailed it!
Hey, I gotta sleep (I barely slept much this weekend) and will add more tomorrow..

Off to the festival

Gotta fly 2,536 or miles in the air and I have no idea how many more once I get to New Joisey...

Meetcha at the jubilee
Look for the sparkly Dogbone banner and I'll probably there abouts!
Safe travels to all who's going!
I'll be back Monday night!
WOOF!

Congratulations to JASON!!

He passed his series 7 exam..He's licensable (is that a word?) to buy/sell stocks, bonds, annuities!!
Scott & I are so proud of you, Babe!
.........................................
ChetFestPIX!
And a full setlist can be found on the Flying Other Ones website...
.........
Been having a couple of good days here!
Will try to get back in here sometime before I leave tomorrow night.

Can't wait!

CHET FEST!

The poster pack!


An amazing night!
We began around 11 am when I snagged a ride to Millbrae BART from Vera- Q of Ds! We got off at Civic Center and in just a few minutes we were in front of GAMH..Hoping the BO would be open and have a stash of tix available...but nope not open and already a few folks anxious to nab any ticket that might become available..Already the ticket line duty was on! Though several usual suspects werent around-probably theyre on the way to jgbb.....Wandering around the front was Hippie Bill (I scored my hugs- I love Bill! I don't think we'll see him in W.Va though-wah!). V & I grabbed lunch at Mel's Diner (yum) on Van Ness then headed back to see what was what at GAMH.
I hung around for a little while, getting to watch different musicians wander in. I saw Paul Kantnor- it gave me shivers! And briefly saw M & MK as they got to work...Various familiar faces came by- red carpet GAMH style!
I've never seen so many older people looking for tix!
I left Vera among her line duty friends to head back to BART and go down to the Mission...I felt sticky and decided to head over to my favorite clothing place- the Cut Loose Outlet. I found a blue blouse which fit and made me happy..then back to meet Scott at the apt behind the shop. We got ourselves together and whipped over to the Alley we like to park in. The Online will call line was short and efficient and we thank Paulyy for steering us there! We each received a ticket and a lammie, then got in the big line. Familiar faces popped up everywhere..Including the Bobstar's as he was making his way to his car. He looks fit as a fiddle too! We chatted with a couple behind us from FLA. They were stoked that this was happening while they were in town for other reasons-Mazel Tov to them-they said they were going to Tahoe to get married after the show.
Scott was really happy for many reasons -but partly because he had been visited earlier in the day by a musician he knew via his work..This musician had made it, then got swallowed up by personal demons - but now is clean and on a career rebound! S. was touched the fellow went by the shop just to see him & catch up.It was a thrill to see that cat back on stage later at GAMH!
A few of the musicians on stage through the night Scott knew from selling or buying instruments over the years...

There was so much going on inside the GAMH. that I think I'll need to wait til someone puts together a set list or 3 or 5..Musicians & Music galore and every set was fabulous in it's own way and of course, my favorite moments were when Bobby was singing. I had the best group of folks around me! Big tall huge men that pushed me in front of them when Bobby came out! And these guys were so sturdy that they basically lifted up and moved wedgers along.. We were about 4 rows from stage- right in the center! I didnt realize til later on that I was having a wardrobe malfunction - my pretty blue blouse unbuttoned itself right down to my navel- but I doubt anyone noticed as the incredibly exotic and beautiful Caroline in the shimmery gown was dancing next to me...
Bobby sounded perfect..And played more than I guessed he would be able because there were so many musicians there! My favorites were
Ashes & Glass and She belongs to me.
I have a line from Ashes and Glass as my DNC tagline- I put it up days ago..Most of the music til then were 60's songs so Ashes and Glass was a bit of a surprise and it made me think of London.
'She Belongs to me' is a favorite and I love you Bobby for that one!
I think it was FOTD that Bobby sang in a new way...
Deal was great!
Was that the song that MK just went insane on?
I didnt expect to see Robin Silvester on stage but YAY! He was there with MK (orange Gretsch!) & Bobby!
awesome!
A few quick notes because I've gotta attend to los bambinos today- they want to go to the bookstore.
Wavy looks great too- a beard (he joked that folks were now confusing him with Bobby) and slimming down! At one point Wavy was dressed as a giant whoppee cushion! I'll be seeing him in a few weeks when we go to retrieve Sash from camp.
Merl Saunders is a hero! He was on stage and played a whole tune..I love you Merl!
MATT KELLY played too-with MK, Bobby & Robin! He still looking so boyish too!
The Holding Company knocked our socks off! The woman who does the Janis songs was amazing...oh yeah!
it was a great night and a fitting tribute to the life of (((((Chet Helms))))))


Here is a list of 26 of musicians who were playing last night- not a complete list of every musician who played though (Merl Saunders & Matt Kelly are 2 that I know arent on this list)

Peter Albin – Big Brother & The Holding Company
Greg Anton – Zero
T Bone Burnett – Bob Dylan, and countless others
Mario Cipollina – Huey Lewis And The News, Soundhole
Greg Douglass – Country Weather, Terry & The Pirates, Steve Miller
Naomi Ruth Eisenberg – Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
David Freiberg – Quicksilver Messenger Service
David Getz – Big Brother & The Holding Company
Wavy Gravy – Hippie Activist Clown
Terry Haggerty – Sons Of Champlin
Paul Kantner - Jefferson Airplane/Starship
Mark Karan – The Other Ones, Rat Dog
Rich Kirch – John Lee Hooker Band, Billy C Farlow
Mickey Hart – Grateful Dead
Country Joe McDonald – Country Joe & The Fish
Kathi McDonald – Big Brother & The Holding Company
David Nelson – New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Prairie Prince – Tubes, Tommy Bolin, Jefferson Starship
Jimmy Sanchez – Kingfish, David Nelson Band, Boz Scaggs
Pete Sears – Jefferson Starship, Rod Stewart, John Cipollina
Barry Sless – David Nelson Band, J.C. Flyer
Leigh Stephens – Blue Cheer
Robin Sylvester – Rory Gallagher, Marty Balin Band, Steve Douglas
Bobby Vega – Zero, Problem Child
Bob Weir – Grateful Dead
Narada Michael Walden – Everybody

Drive by Blog...

Woof!
My ticket to the Jerry Bash arrived today!
YES!
And without much planning, Kems and I found ourselves at Stanford University last night...After a bit of searching we even located the Kenny gig!
Stanford campus is really close to Belmont and Kemmie lives on the way- we don't even have to get on a freeway to get there...In 1982 I took some classes there and loved that campus!
We eventually found Braun Hall and the Cambell Theater- which is small with lovely acoustics..We made it by the second set which was fantastic! We especially enjoyed an original (tune?) called Weapons of Maniacal Destruction..The sextet including Kenny were all dynamite! I have the program but it's downstairs (sorry I'm lazy!)
Anyhow- Anyone in the city this weekend might contemplate having some dinner on Columbus and then popping over to Jazz at Pearls to check out Kenny & some of these Jazz cats he'll be playing with..I think they'll be there Friday AND Saturday!

Hmmm...Kenny Brooks at Stanford tonight!

And yay! New Stuff on the way!

Hippy Berthaday ((((TRINKS)))!!

Weirever you are- I hope it's a GREAT day!
....................
Thanks to Tiny Dancer for finding the most excellent Bobstar interview!!
It's in Relix..I checked out the Rex website and there are all kinds of good reading matter there so take a link
to the whole site and have a look!
........
Crazy busy here! Felt as though I spent 2 entire daze on the phone with Mac.com trying to get some help and also had a big problem with a set of tix from Travelocity- so many hours trying to talk to a living breathing person...the ones I did get through to passed the buck and so I guess I'm still waiting for someone to return a call....Then there's this whole thing with getting braces on one of the kids...ex-rays and molds and I have had to cancell out on seeing my mom twice now....
whine whine whine
But, next week I'll be flying Red Eye (unless Travelocity fugged up those tix too) to New Jersey and travelling on to JGBB!!!
And
sometime this week there will be Kenny Brooks -if I can get my hausfrau stuff together I may be able to slither over to Stanford or wherever he might be performing.
And
Friday night is the Chet Helms deal!
Adrian, who works part time at the shop with Scott, is friends with Chet's brother and will be going. Adrian is a pretty cool guy- paints,bikes everywhere, he is from Holland, but has lived in SF since the 60's where he owned an antique store with Chet's brother and played in a band with Rob Wasserman (The Bourbon Street Irregulars) Adrian was the drummer..A fact which didnt come out til Scott found a copy of that band's album which the Wass so kindly signed for us!

Revving Up! Rexing Up and another friday walking in SF.

Can't wait til Ratdog in a couple weeks!
Wooooooooooooooooof!

From: www.rexfoundation.org:

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF - The Rex Foundation, a public charitable organization established in 1983 by friends and members of the Grateful Dead, is launching the Rex Community Caravan – its virtual vehicle for philanthropy. Individuals can make a difference with donations of $5 or more. Having raised the bar of grassroots grant-giving, the Rex Foundation Community Caravan kicked off the summer of 2005 with presence at various summer music festivals, such as Bonnaroo in Tennessee and the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Minnesota. In the fall, the Rex Foundation will host Black Tie-Dye Balls, in San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C., to bring people together in local communities.

NEW BOARD DIRECTORS

The Rex Foundation's Board of Directors include such luminaries as Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart, President and CEO of Grateful Dead Productions Cameron Sears, Woodstock 1999 producer John Scher, and San Francisco's KFOG Radio Station disc-jockey Rosalie Howarth. As of Spring 2005, recent additions to the board are Stefanie Coyote, Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Commission, Steve Bernstein, Publisher of Relix Magazine and Andy Gadiel, Founder of JamBase.com. The Board of Directors identifies and approves grants for small organizations often overlooked by mainstream funding sources. Rex grants have often helped organizations at critical junctures in their development.

ABOUT THE REX FOUNDATION AND THE REX COMMUNITY CARAVAN

For over two decades, the Rex Foundation has been deeply rooted in the music community and the progressive efforts that have spawned from an inspired demographic. Since 1984, the Rex Foundation has granted $7.7 million to some 1,000 grassroots programs across the U.S. and around the world in support of the environment, the arts, education, social and economic justice. As social, environmental and educational programs suffer from a lack of adequate funding, the Rex Foundation creatively attracts dedicated supporters and remains at the forefront of grassroots giving. The Rex Community Caravan provides the opportunity for thousands of people to collectively further what the Grateful Dead and their fans started at the first Rex benefit concert in 1984.

Look for the Rex Community Caravan and a Black-Tie-Dye Ball event at a music festival or concert hall near you! Help spread the word of an ongoing Grateful Dead tradition of generosity and concern to help others.

To get onboard the Rex Community Caravan go to www.rexfoundation.org.

[Published on 7/21/2005]
.............................
Spent another Friday in SF walking with the kids.
We found out that if you walk up 19th street from Mission, You can get the world's best Shawrma(made right with a layer of hummas,a layer of tabuli and french fries rolled like a burrito in aram bread instead of stuck in a pita) at Ali Baba's Cave at the corner of 19th & Valencia...To get to Ben & Jerry's on Haight & Ashbury from there you must proceed North, past Guerrera all the way up to Castro street. Turn right on Castro street and follow along til you get to Haight street..Try very hard not to get sucked into the cute shops & cafes along Castro or you'll never make it uphill to the Haight! Turn left and walk up hill to Ashbury. We did stop at the more interesting shops along the way...Kids especially loving the tee shirt shops (one tee shop had a tee hanging in the doorway with a picture of our Bobby Weir on it!) After they got ice cream, we continued on to look around...noticing a few mini shrines one for {{{Chet Helms}}} and another for the woman who used to take pictures of people in front of the Haight-Ashbury street sign.
Sash discovered the amazing Mendel's store and I had to drag Noah out of Booksmith. Then it was time to head back down to the Mission and we were happy that it was all downhill from there..We stopped and bought waters and kicked back for a little rest at Buena Vista Park..then got a little creative on our route back- stopping at the authentic Mission Delores and winding around a slew of streets til we got back to 19th & Mission...Total time of wandering:4&1/2 hours...Hung out as Scott et al closed the shop then out to North Beach for Tommaso's Pizza!

((((( London))))))
A week ago, we were homeward bound on Virgin.. Not long after takeoff, the pilot requested passengers observe the two moments of silence for the victims of the 7/7 bombings except for the cries of a toddler, everyone was respectfully quiet. I don’t know if you could call it a prayer but I wished peace to the families and loved ones of the victims...London was doing okay while we were there,but still I hoped for it to remain safe from any more craziness.....
I got so used to seeing the words “London” and “bombs” strung together that I missed reading it on the newspage on my internet....but found out via an email. The kids and I watched CNN (couldnt remember which of our gazillion channels is BBC) for awhile today...
We talked about the connection they made to the City there... Sash loved the play at the Globe..Noah enjoyed the gory tales of the Tower....
And we talked about
our friends we had just seen there (((Robin, Angela & Theresa))))




as well as some of the places we had been to.....
Like the tops of the double decker buses..


and the funky older underground trains

I was 14 the first time I went to London. My social Studies teacher -Mr McKinney organized a student travel group. I was sent along. We traveled through Scotland and stayed in London in Mayfair. Who’d ever guess that old dive we stayed in on Half Moon Street would be turned into a Hilton with a single room going for hundreds of a dollars a night? That was the trip that I looked the wrong way on Piccadilly Circus and got hit by a car....32 years later and I still tremble at the thought of crossing the street....Mr McKinny gave us loads of free time..while the other lil girls wept from homesickness, I embraced the freedom..at first chance, I abandoned my classmates and took off to find Carnaby Street on my own...and I did!
.As a kid I was a “roamer” and I still am and that is just how I spent my last day in London. We all went to the Globe Theater..but there was no way I would spend 3 & 1/2 hours watching Shakespeare in the heat & humidity! So, I took off, I had my Tube ticket and had money so I could always grab a taxi if I got lost. But of course, I didnt get lost.
I crossed the Thames on the Southwark foot bridge which leads one right to St. Paul’s ..
From there it was easy (turn left and head west!) I marched along fleet street found myself in Theaterland (yes, that’s what it’s called). My favorite shopping is Covent Garden (no garden just shops and market stalls) I spent quite awhile hunting for little treasures there- they have some very nice crafter’s boothes there) . I moved along through Soho (no werewolves holding Chinese menus this time, though) to Piccadilly Circus and along Piccadilly to Mayfair past The Hard Rock (my favorite London hang out when I was 14) To Hyde Park...Once in Hyde Park, I trekked up Rotten Row and The Serpintine crossed the bridge and wandered through the meadow to Princess/Lady Di’s fountain - which is like a cement creek the course is shaped like a letter “D”....I found Bayswater road a bit of ways from there and followed it West toward Kensington. Once I saw the statue of Peter Pan, I knew I was pretty close to Nottinghill gate and kept on til I got to our street (Pembridge Gardens). A triumph for me! I didnt need a Tube or a bus or a cab or even a map..
Along the way, I recognized all kinds of places that brought back memories...like the Waldorf! One trip to London, I was with my pal Trinda, we were 18 and about to begin the huge Eurotrek...we had just gotten off one of those Freddy Laker air buses and were wearing truly raggy jeans and tees...and had all this backpacking type gear..My Dad’s travel agent had made these 1st nite reservations for us at the quite posh and stuffy Waldorf..the desk clerk did not seem to believe us or our vouchers and even phoned the US to make sure we were who we said we were before finally letting us check in...
So many memories...

Wednesday

A couple of articles/sites may be of interest-
GDVolkswagon

Kyndmusic

............
Irenie stuff-
Home almost a week now...Travel journal coming soon to those actually interested in our vacation...Might be helpful to those considering taking older kids across the ocean..Except for about 15 minutes in Volendam, we had a wonderful time...
Of course, I might just continue to refer to the events here in spurts and save everyone the trouble of looking at paragraphs & paragraphs all at once..

Only (according to Chez) 16 days til JGBB and just a little over a week til Bobby & MK A GAMH!
It's becoming a rather spectacular Summer!

Very cool! Amatt from RDUK Tour of 2003, was in town and popped into the shop to check out guitars. I dont know who recognized who but it was a pleasant surprise!
Maybe I'll run into him myself when the kids nd I BART up to SF this Friday? We'll be wandering toward the Haight and Noah wants to go back to Union Square...followed by dinner at Tommasso's.
I love LOVE love Summer vacation!!

Reminds me- we ran into my parents closest friends (Judy & Jack) at Heathrow!
Heathrow is HUGE - even the International Terminal is monstrous- like a big shopping mall - with a caviar bar and jewelery stores...and packed with travellers from every country...To run into anyone by design could be tricky let alone having a chance meeting with old friends!
When I was between Mr. irenies, my mom, Judy, my friend Leslie and I went to Paris for a week. Leslie and I fooled around in the Left Bank, ate shawarma and made daily visits to Shakespeare & Co. bookstore while Judy and my mom took on shopping on the Champs D'Elyssae (okay I forget how that's spelled). Mom & Judy went every year to shop- not only for themselves but had lists of items wanted by friends who trusted their taste(true, either lady wouldve made a Killer personal shopper).
Already that was a long -long time ago!

Judy and Jack moved down to Las Vegas or Palm Springs..somewhere like that to play golf, so it was actually great to see them and for them to see my younger kids.
My parents were tickled pink to hear we saw them..

Pictures

Mazel Tov to Alan!


......................
.......................
More vacation pix-

Scott



A better picture of the corner of our street (Korte Leides. and the Leidesplein)
A neighborhood which NEVER quiets down!





Hyde Park


Sash in the Hogswart dining hall (Christchurch College)

More Dining hall (How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?


The Princess @ The tower of London- That's Tower Bridge behind her.






Korte Leideswarstraat at night...


Noah peeking out from our Amsterdam window.


Scott filming Parliment & Big Ben


Window shopping in London


The rail at the Globe Theater!


Yum! Sherpa! Located a few steps away from our AMS homebase.


City of Oxford- excellent Tudor building on the left there!


Portobello Road, London


Hyde Park


makeshift memorial for 7/7 victims..

Home Again

Had a good time!
Already working on a AMS-Volendam-London-Oxford review.

The short version:
Virgin Atlantic definately the way to go!
Even if my suitcase didnt make it home just yet- it's our fault for being late for the plane. My case with all the goodies in it, was of course, the only one left behind..
Just 10 hours non stop - it will take me a few more hrs than that with 2 flights just to get to the east coast next month for jgbb.

Vacation Pictures coming soon too
Even more than we thought we would end up with because the camera we lost was located -They are sending it to us (((3 Big Cheers for "The Best of Holland Excursions-Volendam"))) they found it on the bus that we missed our ride back to Amsterdam on (not our finest hour, I will admit)...Til that point Sasha had been doing all the Holland photos with our Olympus...I did all the London/Oxford photos with my trusty old Kodak...Scott dealt with the digicam...much downloading in the near future..


Had gone online in Amsterdam-once to check in with homefront- while I had extra minutes, I checked into Deadnet and saw the announcement about the Chet fest so ordered tix right from the Bulldog Coffeeshop. Lucky I did because that show is now sold out!


Okay, so aside from a nearly missed plane, a missed excursion bus, a lost camera and some momentary concern about continuing/returning on to London (We had arrived into Heathrow on the 4th but left the same day for Amsterdam)..Everything went very smoothly...
This is the Wellington Arch...The statue depicts Peace descending on the chariot of war...



An ad posted on the wall of the underground...no idea what it means but we liked it!

Going..Going...

...Going to London in a couple of hours.
Very very very sorry there wont be any Bobdog to take in but I look forward to going to West Virginia in August and half expect that withing a few daze of being away that some sort of Bobthing will be scheduled...no inside info just my luck....Just speculating...
Anyhow- everyone but me is packed...I'm just half packed...but waiting for coffee first and then I'll pull it all together.
Dinner last night with my folks, my father has returned from safari! It sounds hilarious to me because my dad seems so not the camping in the Serengetti type...Guess he is! Lots of pictures of wild animals and many handcrafted treats from the villagers...His travel buddies told us that Dad was the favorite among villagers because he kept giving money to kids and having venders "keep the change"....Knowing $5.00 will feed a family of 4 for a month in that village...
Live aid Dad style...
Okay going for my coffee now, then pack,then make sure for the 20th time that we have all the passports & paperwork..
then off to SFO and the wild blue yonder!
Wonder if we will see fireworks from the plane?
Be back in a few weeks!
WOOF!

Babble on...

Still packing and playing...
I can't believe all the stuff we are taking!
It's like weve traded in diaper gear for electronica...
really, ipods, cameras, converters & battery chargers..portable dvd thing &walkie talkies..
at least I can leave the computer and cell phone at home...

Bobby related something here

Checking in...irenie Babble...

It's time to get packing over here..
For me that means cleaning out my drawers and closets because it's the easiste way to find stuff...rather than tear through everything looking for whatever, leaving my room looking like a crime scene, I merely empty all my stuff on the bed and make 3 big heaps- stuff to be donated, stuff to reorganize and stuff to take. Did that yesterday with my accessorydrawers - jewlery,cosmetics and paper things like addies...Found one set of voltage converters and both battery chargers with rechargable batteries...Not too bad- but considering weve only lived here about 10 months, the junk sure piles up!
Doing pretty well, off work one week now and a week from now, we'll be on our way!
I googled up the Virgin Atlantic Airways and enjoyed purusing the site- looked up which movies & programs they'll have going across and back...Nice to see the have video games on the plane- that should keep the 10 year old reasonable entertained..
Anyhow last week was some scrambling around..wanting to play since school was over but needing to get a few things workied out.
We celebrated by spending an entire day wandering through the streets of SF...
Grabbed the Millbrae BART around 10 am
Usually when BART stops at the airport only a few folks get in or out..but Friday it was crazy! Loads of same sex couples getting into town for the big Castro Street Gay Pride weekend..
So many same sex couples in the city on Friday that it almost felt a little like the 70's...almost.
walked up Mission from 24th street- a much nicer direction than coming down 16th (trust me on this!)
Spent a few minutes at the shop with Scott, choosing dvds to take on the trip from the used dvds they sell.
Decided too early for lunch and so headed out to Mitchell's for ice cream (no relation to Mitchell Brothers sex shows)...We walked up to Valencia all the way out to Cesar Chavez boulevard (2&1/2 miles) Still couldnt find Mitchell's (because it's on San Jose not Valencia-doh!)
So marched back to 24th St BART and decided to go downtown- in search of adventure on Powell street...
We wandered around Union Square unable to decide on where to lunch...remembered that the Virgin Mega store had a cupcake cafe on the top floor so headed there...the cafe turned out to not be what we wanted after all...but still the kids took their time looking through the immense book section...
Another march up to Grant street where in the distance the entry to Chinatown was noted..and so we decided to walk through it to get to Columbus...It took forever to get to North Beach- Chinatown is pretty damn big!
The kids wanted to peer through City Lights Bookstore - We've never found a bookshop we didnt like or car to explore..
this mightve happened because they get their allowance in Borders gift cards..
Anyhoo,
Marching up Columbus I spied one of venues where Kenny Brooks plays sometimes 'Jazz at Pearl's' is the place, and because my head is in a plane heading to London these daze, I got very excited to see a sax in the window- so I hoped maybe there was an early Kenny gig- but nope a different group was setting up..so kids and I headed back out in search of lunch which we took at Buster's cheesesteak place..avoiding all the yum pizza places since we were gonna be returning to North Beach later for pizza at Tommassos.
Though the city was buzzing with tourists no one was dining at Buster's (it was about 3pm) but us so the management was kind enough to let us takeover an outside table for about an hour..the kids read and I just loafed in the sun, counting the tourbuses stopping (8)to comment in front of the Vesuvius cafe (across the street from Buster's).
We then moved down hill toward the Pyramid building and ending up on Montgomery street heading to the Montgomery BART station. We looked for our Jason among all the suits and ties since he is now gone corporate and working right there in the financial district..
Back on BART this time we took the 16 street exit back to the shop. I was ready to head back to Valencia to check out Beadissimo but the kids just wanted to rest. So we went up to the apartment..The weather was still really pleasant so we sat out on the deck Kids again submerged in books, I again just loafing, enjoying the views- From the back deck, some of the Pyramid is visable and you can see the tops of the shops along Mission from the front deck you can see twin peaks and the rainbow flag of the Castro and the top of the Mission church...
Finally 5:30 arrived and we watched Scott appear from around the corner...off to Tommassos to re- consume all the calories we walked off.
A pretty great day practicing being tourists in our own big city!

.................................
Was very upset to hear/read of Chet Helm's death!
The fragility of life sort of had been haunting me through the day in SF...Lots of memories of back in the days (my era being the 70's & 80's not really the 60's) when (mostly unbelievably gorgeous) Gay men ruled SF...My buddy Stan, from High School had just come out of the closet in 76 and in between boyfriends and husbands, when I was really really depressed, Stan would insist we go to SF and see what mischief (mostly he) we could get into...Stan like so many others (including Scott's friend Michael) died of Aids in the early 90s...seeing the return of so many same sex couples in SF all day was a bittersweet reminder of the old days with Stan
Do the hustle! YMCA!
I'm just a love machine!
But then to learn of Chet Helms passing, brought me down...
Cant say I knew Chet Helms.. he was everywhere but he was as gentle-practically timid- compared to all the other great charactors of the 60's that still pop up at Dead related events..nothing surreal about Chet with those big doe eyes of his..Anyone and everyone could approach him and he seemed a little shy but happy to oblige with a little conversation or a gentle smile...I mightve found myself having traded pleasantries maybe a few dozen times with him...when they say he was the polar opposite of Bill Graham, I'd have to agree from what I knew of them...
..........
Time to get back to packing...

{{{{{Chet Helms}}}

RIP

We miss you already.