Fiesta Hermosa and more

another beautiful day at the beach.   the Fiesta Hermosa started yesterday but the band i wanted to see played from 11am to 2pm today so i took the bus and then skated to Hermosa Beach to see Pretzel Logic, "your Steely Dan revue".  they were excellent as always.  after their final set, i skated up to Manhattan Beach to see/hear a very talented singer/guitar player named David Aldo.  he has a very beautiful voice. not sure why there wasn't more people listening to him. he covered some favorite singers of mine as well as singing some of his one that were quite good.  after he finished i went back to the Manhattan Beach pier area to see some beach volleyball before skating back to Hermosa to see Space Oddity, a David Bowie tribute band.  they were fun and a big crowd favorite. i left after a few songs as i still needed to skate back to Redondo Beach and catch the bus home.  the blue sky began turning gray around 4pm.  that's some of the highlights from this Labor Day Weekend sunday.  the last day of august has almost come and gone and september will be here soon. tomorrow, officially my 3-month vacation starts. more about that as the days go by.

Pretzel Logic 

David Aldo

Space Oddity

Snuggle Bug is still missing/ Rock, Inc.

 Redondo Beach Library

here is a little of what i saw on my walk to Redondo Beach Library.  at the library as i was able renew my library card and checked out two Inspector Morse dvds, one Midsomer Murder mystery, a Japanese movie which i have not seen called When the Last Sword is Drawn and as mentioned yesterday one of my all-time favorite movies,  Maborosi. and i checked out a book by one of my favorite writers, Jack Kornfield. the book is entitled The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness and Peace.  i also stopped by a suprisingly neat, quiet and clean McDonald's near the library for my last hot fudge sundae.  i decided to enjoy my sundae and catch up on the news of the day before walking back home.  i think the roundtrip to the library and home again was about 8 miles.  of course, i stopped many times for photos.  and spent some time at the library.  a little more time sitting under a bay fig looking up at how big this fig was, and a little more time sitting under a palm tree watching the sailboats on the ocean (ok, Santa Monica Bay).  since i was neither in a hurry to get to the library or to return home, i simply enjoyed taking the time to take my time taking time.

 $1.08 including tax for my last sundae

 Moreton Bay Fig

 get here early for the best seat at sunset

 the last boogie boarder

 sitting down on the job

tired and/or bored . . . you can't expect a kid to come to the beach without activities planned

 73.  that's how many stairs there are.  

 wisps of white on a blue background

 all clear from here

May you be well.  May you be happy.  May you be at peace.  and through the blessing of your heart may the world find peace.

 i thought it looked like some kind of  robot "transformer".

 colorful view looking south from the pier

 Redondo Beach Pier

 never look back, you never know who might be gaining on you

 a father and daughter on a summer's day at the pier

 just enough room for one tall skinny palm tree

 guess what this sign is for

Pacific Coast Highway "cliffhanger".  . .  vegatables and .  .  . stay tuned to find out next season.

let's just take two chairs from our kitchen table and sit them in the front yard

 OJ's return

frangipani also know as  __ , the sweet fragrance of the islands here in Torrance

 Snuggle Bug

today's sunset entertainment at the last Redondo Pier concert of the summer. very entertaining.

Rock, Inc. playing James Brown's "i feel good"

7:15 pm

itsuka no sora - いつかの空 柴崎コウ

finally, i found it.  i have been looking for this music video for awhile now.  it was on one of the video tapes that Akemi made for me from Space Shower TV.  i think she has made around 7 tapes for me over the years.  they are my 宝のもの。i looked thru 3 tapes yesterday but finally found it this morning on the 4th tape. . .  it is nice to be on vacation with nothing to do but look for one song, one music video that keeps running thru my mind... sayonara, sayonara, anata ni aitai

(goodbye, goodbye, i want to see you again). . .

and to hear Kou Shibasaki singing this same song live (on youtube) click here.

hopefully it is just a coincidence that the video from yesterday also had a funeral in it.  the scene i added to yesterday's blog entry was from one of my all-time favorite movies called Maborosi (spoiler alert)(i think that was the first "spoiler alert" in any of my blogs, not that there is anything wrong with that).  i may check it out from the library today and watch it again.  there is something about it . . . perhaps it is my maboroshi  : )

now it is time to go for a walk to the beach.  looking to the east, it looks quite winter-like. if i feel up to it, i will walk to Redondo Beach library to see if they have any Inspector Morse dvds.  i think i watched them all when i was on my 3-year vacation from 2001-2004 but now that i have been to Oxford, i want to see them again.  i think John Thaw, the wonderful actor who played Inspector Morse died in 2002 from cancer.  and i think it is reading about him and his death that prompted me to watch his Inspector Morse character.  one episode was all it took.

. . . suddenly, nothing happened . . .

. . . and you say, be still my love . . .

 . . .  just be here, forget about the past . . .

first day of no work, no commute

a funny thing happened on the way to the market. .  .

let's just say i was a bit surprised when they started barking

after walking to the dry cleaners and market, (and taking a nap)(watching tv), i walked to Veteran's Park near the Redondo Beach Pier for the last of the Wednesday Night Concerts. tonite's band was Swing, Inc.  it was probably around 4 miles to the park.  nice first walk of my vacation.  the band was fun.  there were many families and many kids there enjoying the final concert of the summer.  i walked to the pier on the band's short break and then i walked up to PCH to catch the 8pm bus back home.