and so this is Christmas, i mean St. Patrick's Day. it has been a long but tremendously fun day which starting as usual with the Tom Morton Show on BBC Radio Scotland. today's topics including ending up or starting off in the wrong place or the miscommunication of the two...i also learned many ways to eat a mango without getting all sticky messy. Tom didn't read my input...have someone you love prepare it for you. but, he did read a little of my email regarding today's St. Patrick's Day plans and also the past saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival in Hermosa Beach which included the very entertaining Wrath of McGrath.
i took Metro bus 444 at 930a for the hour long ride to Pershing Square in downtown LA. the parade was starting somewhere near the 10 Freeway at 1130a where it would proceed down Main Street and with one turn on 5th, it would end up at Pershing Square. as i walked down Main Street the thought entered my head "what if they threw a parade and nobody showed up". fortunately closer to the start of the parade there were more people, more kids, more green, more crazy people in green. and of course, our homeless people. more photos later.
today's "headliners" at Pershing Square were the Young Dubliners who really rocked, Celtic-style...and just plain rock-sytle. more about them and the pipers and the Laker Girls and Grizzly Adams and that guy from Terminator 2 who was trying to kill our Governer, and the bunny (not the Governor and the bunny) and the dancing horses. more later time for dinner. no cabbage and whatever else the Irish eat on St. Paddy's Day. Siochan leat...
...ceol 's craic
did i mention the Elliott Caine Quintet yesterday at Fisherman's Village in Marina del Rey? excellent latin jazz and afro-cuban jazz and straight-at-ya-jazz. they had to fight the wind playing and i had to fight it on my rollerskates (and it always seems to be against the wind coming and go) but it was worth it. Elliott is super-talented trumpet player. i feel i can call him Elliott because we talked on one of the band's breaks. he was having a burger. i shared him with my love of live music and the good jazz festivals in Japan. i also met Javier the excellent sax man. i think he went with the shrimp and fried rice. he has played with the legendary Poncho Sanchez. i brought a sandwich from home knowing the food there is not the best and a bit pricey...i think they cater mainly to tourists off tour buses but i digress. Bill, the bass player gave me his business card it case i took any good photos. i wish i could have gotten a more close-up photo of him especially since i have always been pro-bass since sitting in front of Brian Bromberg at a Border's in-store concert over 10 years ago. (but the first time i remember noticing and liking the bass was in the Michael Frank's song "read my lips"). i am always waiting for a bass solo. Bill did have one in the third set that was good but too short. i think he too was having trouble with the cold wind blowing thru the marina. ok it is really time to eat.
Elliott, Javier and Bill of the six man Elliott Caine Quintet. or maybe it is Elliott Caine and Quintet? or maybe it's a music thing or new math.
