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June 24th
Another cold winter's day in Adelaide. I'm looking forward to some California sunshine. My daughter in law Leanna dropped me off at Adelaide airport in good time for my flight to Sydney so I indulged myself in a hot chocolate and a snack in one of the cafes at the airport. The flights were a little behind schedule probably due to the bad weather but we departed for Sydney only 20 minutes late. Janet Klein was on the flight and we had a little chat about the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Janet sings and plays ukele and looks like a performer from a bygone era!
My international flight to San Francisco was about an hour late departing as we had to wait for travellers from connecting fights that were late. The plane was totally full as it is now the beginning of the holiday period in the US. As the US is behind Australia in time I actually arrived only one hour after leaving Adelaide on 24th June!
As I usually have trouble sleeping on planes I take long international flights as an opportunity to catch up on movies I've missed. I like having my own individual screen and choice of movies. I managed to watch five on this journey! There were several that I had seen reviewed on The Movie Show, the first being Two lovers. This was a European style low key movie set around Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York, very near to where John lives so there were some familiar backdrops. Joaquin Phoenix had the main role in this film. He's a very intense actor and I will never forget his performance as Johnny Cash in Walk the line and this is supposedly his last movie as he announced last year he was quitting acting and planning a career in music. In this movie he plays an unstable aimless young man forced to live with his parents again after the break up of his marriage. As the title suggests two women come into his life both very different characters and he has certain choices to make.
Easy virtue was another movie I'd missed at the cinema and was interested in seeing. It was about an Englishman from an upper class family who falls for a glamorous American woman (Jessica Biel) and after marrying her takes her home to meet the family. His mother (Kristen Scot-Thomas does not take to her new daughter in law and the family is gradually torn apart.
After these two fairly demanding movies it was time for something lighter. I watched The International, a fast moving thriller with British actor Clive Owen in the lead role and 12 Rounds, an action movie set in New Orleans starring wrestler John Cena.
The fifth movie was a romantic comedy starring Rene Zellweger as a high powered consultant sent to Minnesota by her company to streamline production at a local food factory. She has a difficult time relating to the locals and especially the union boss played by Harry Connick Jnr but since this is a romantic comedy you somehow know that she'll change her mind about him!
We arrived in San Francisco only 20 minutes behind schedule and I was down in Monterrey by 1.30 pm. The usual morning fog had just cleared. I spent the rest of the day eating and catching up on news with my friends Janis and Dennis.
June 25th
It was a cool morning at first but soon evolved into a typical sunny California day. Janis and I headed off to the Tehama club where I did my first ever aquarobics class. I found it very invigorating although there were some moves I just couldn't manage in the water! The club includes a golf club and is in a beautiful setting in the hills behind Monterey. You can see Clint Eastwood's house from the pool! As the club is owned by Clint Eastwood I was hoping he'd show up there which Janis told me he does occasionally but unfortunately not today!
We had lunch and then I decided to check e mails. As I logged into Yahoo I saw something about Michael Jackson in the headlines but didn't really pay any attention. When I looked again I was saddened to see that the king of pop had just died at age 50. This made my first day in America a very memorable one. Farah Fawcett had also just passed away but every TV channel was focusing on Michael Jackson. The nation is in shock.
Janis and I went to the Farmers market later in the day and then we had a relaxing evening watching The French Connection which I hadn't seen for years. Now I'm more familiar with New York I could recognise many of the streets featured in the movie!
June 26th
Today we drove to Santa Cruz with Janis's friend Nancy. We looked around the Macey's sale and all ended up buying some new clothes! Nancy also had to collect her dress for her son's wedding which takes place next week-end at Yosemite. On the way back we called in at a native nursery and I wished I could take some of their plants home! Nancy treated us to lunch at a restaurant at Moss Landing, a popular fishing spot, and on the way home we called in at Nancy's home to see her lovely new kitchen and home decor.
June 27th
I spent most of today at the Monterey Blues Festival.Perfect weather and fantastic music.There were so many great bands playing many of which I'd never heard of. I'll write more about this later. The highlight for me was the evening in the main arena with Trudy Lynn, Lucky Peterson and Clarence Carter but I also really enjoyed Terry Hanck, Elvin Bishop, Leah Tysse and the OG's and Janiva Magness. I found a great CD stall and couldn't resist buying a couple of albums!
June 28th
Sunday had a shorter programme than Saturday so we relaxed and went later to the festival. Again I enjoyed all the bands I saw. Top of today's bill in the main arena were the Neville Brothers who are right up my alley musially. What amazing harmonies and musicianship! Before them Barbara Morrison and Denise LaSalle had the arena rockin'. Kenny Neal drew a good crowd performing originals and standards and I enjoyed local blues/funk outfit Rene Solis and Lucky 13..
June 29th
The day started off very cool and misty as it often does in Northern California. Janis and I drove up to Carmel and browsed around some art galleries and some other shops. Later she dropped me off at the Aquarium which I always enjoy visiting. I spent an hour and a half admiring all the creatures and walked downtown where we met up with Dennis and enjoyed lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. In the afternoo we had a look aroud Stevenson house. I hadn't realised that the Scottish writer and poet Robert Louis Stevenson had spent some time in Monterey. There was plenty of memorobilia nd the curator told s some interesting anecdotes about the author. We weren't alowed to ake photos inside but the gardens were beuatiful too so I took a pic there! Later I caught up on some e mails and began packing for my journey to new York tomorrow. The TV still has Michael Jackosn on constantly!
June 30th
Dennis and I set of to San Franciso in good time for my flight but when I checked in I was told boarding was now 2.30 instead of 12.30! I rang John to tell him not to set off too early to JFK. As it turned out it was actually 3.30 before we boarded and the 3.20 to NY left before our plane. We finally left around 4pm. On internal AA flights you don't get to choose your movies so we all watched `Hotel for dogs' which turned out to be a cute family movie especially for dog lovers like me! Of course the story was totally improbable but you just watch it for the irresistable dogs! When we landed a lady opposite me got up and removed a little dog basket from under her seat. None of us realised that we had a canine passenger. I told her he looked like the dog `friday' in the movie! We landed at 12.05 and by the time I reclaimed baggage it was nearly 12.30! John looked tired but of course pleased to see me and it felt great to be back in New York! We finally got to bed about 2.30am. My sleep patterns are still all over the place! More soon!
Another cold winter's day in Adelaide. I'm looking forward to some California sunshine. My daughter in law Leanna dropped me off at Adelaide airport in good time for my flight to Sydney so I indulged myself in a hot chocolate and a snack in one of the cafes at the airport. The flights were a little behind schedule probably due to the bad weather but we departed for Sydney only 20 minutes late. Janet Klein was on the flight and we had a little chat about the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Janet sings and plays ukele and looks like a performer from a bygone era!
My international flight to San Francisco was about an hour late departing as we had to wait for travellers from connecting fights that were late. The plane was totally full as it is now the beginning of the holiday period in the US. As the US is behind Australia in time I actually arrived only one hour after leaving Adelaide on 24th June!
As I usually have trouble sleeping on planes I take long international flights as an opportunity to catch up on movies I've missed. I like having my own individual screen and choice of movies. I managed to watch five on this journey! There were several that I had seen reviewed on The Movie Show, the first being Two lovers. This was a European style low key movie set around Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York, very near to where John lives so there were some familiar backdrops. Joaquin Phoenix had the main role in this film. He's a very intense actor and I will never forget his performance as Johnny Cash in Walk the line and this is supposedly his last movie as he announced last year he was quitting acting and planning a career in music. In this movie he plays an unstable aimless young man forced to live with his parents again after the break up of his marriage. As the title suggests two women come into his life both very different characters and he has certain choices to make.
Easy virtue was another movie I'd missed at the cinema and was interested in seeing. It was about an Englishman from an upper class family who falls for a glamorous American woman (Jessica Biel) and after marrying her takes her home to meet the family. His mother (Kristen Scot-Thomas does not take to her new daughter in law and the family is gradually torn apart.
After these two fairly demanding movies it was time for something lighter. I watched The International, a fast moving thriller with British actor Clive Owen in the lead role and 12 Rounds, an action movie set in New Orleans starring wrestler John Cena.
The fifth movie was a romantic comedy starring Rene Zellweger as a high powered consultant sent to Minnesota by her company to streamline production at a local food factory. She has a difficult time relating to the locals and especially the union boss played by Harry Connick Jnr but since this is a romantic comedy you somehow know that she'll change her mind about him!
We arrived in San Francisco only 20 minutes behind schedule and I was down in Monterrey by 1.30 pm. The usual morning fog had just cleared. I spent the rest of the day eating and catching up on news with my friends Janis and Dennis.
June 25th
It was a cool morning at first but soon evolved into a typical sunny California day. Janis and I headed off to the Tehama club where I did my first ever aquarobics class. I found it very invigorating although there were some moves I just couldn't manage in the water! The club includes a golf club and is in a beautiful setting in the hills behind Monterey. You can see Clint Eastwood's house from the pool! As the club is owned by Clint Eastwood I was hoping he'd show up there which Janis told me he does occasionally but unfortunately not today!
We had lunch and then I decided to check e mails. As I logged into Yahoo I saw something about Michael Jackson in the headlines but didn't really pay any attention. When I looked again I was saddened to see that the king of pop had just died at age 50. This made my first day in America a very memorable one. Farah Fawcett had also just passed away but every TV channel was focusing on Michael Jackson. The nation is in shock.
Janis and I went to the Farmers market later in the day and then we had a relaxing evening watching The French Connection which I hadn't seen for years. Now I'm more familiar with New York I could recognise many of the streets featured in the movie!
June 26th
Today we drove to Santa Cruz with Janis's friend Nancy. We looked around the Macey's sale and all ended up buying some new clothes! Nancy also had to collect her dress for her son's wedding which takes place next week-end at Yosemite. On the way back we called in at a native nursery and I wished I could take some of their plants home! Nancy treated us to lunch at a restaurant at Moss Landing, a popular fishing spot, and on the way home we called in at Nancy's home to see her lovely new kitchen and home decor.
June 27th
I spent most of today at the Monterey Blues Festival.Perfect weather and fantastic music.There were so many great bands playing many of which I'd never heard of. I'll write more about this later. The highlight for me was the evening in the main arena with Trudy Lynn, Lucky Peterson and Clarence Carter but I also really enjoyed Terry Hanck, Elvin Bishop, Leah Tysse and the OG's and Janiva Magness. I found a great CD stall and couldn't resist buying a couple of albums!
June 28th
Sunday had a shorter programme than Saturday so we relaxed and went later to the festival. Again I enjoyed all the bands I saw. Top of today's bill in the main arena were the Neville Brothers who are right up my alley musially. What amazing harmonies and musicianship! Before them Barbara Morrison and Denise LaSalle had the arena rockin'. Kenny Neal drew a good crowd performing originals and standards and I enjoyed local blues/funk outfit Rene Solis and Lucky 13..
June 29th
The day started off very cool and misty as it often does in Northern California. Janis and I drove up to Carmel and browsed around some art galleries and some other shops. Later she dropped me off at the Aquarium which I always enjoy visiting. I spent an hour and a half admiring all the creatures and walked downtown where we met up with Dennis and enjoyed lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. In the afternoo we had a look aroud Stevenson house. I hadn't realised that the Scottish writer and poet Robert Louis Stevenson had spent some time in Monterey. There was plenty of memorobilia nd the curator told s some interesting anecdotes about the author. We weren't alowed to ake photos inside but the gardens were beuatiful too so I took a pic there! Later I caught up on some e mails and began packing for my journey to new York tomorrow. The TV still has Michael Jackosn on constantly!
June 30th
Dennis and I set of to San Franciso in good time for my flight but when I checked in I was told boarding was now 2.30 instead of 12.30! I rang John to tell him not to set off too early to JFK. As it turned out it was actually 3.30 before we boarded and the 3.20 to NY left before our plane. We finally left around 4pm. On internal AA flights you don't get to choose your movies so we all watched `Hotel for dogs' which turned out to be a cute family movie especially for dog lovers like me! Of course the story was totally improbable but you just watch it for the irresistable dogs! When we landed a lady opposite me got up and removed a little dog basket from under her seat. None of us realised that we had a canine passenger. I told her he looked like the dog `friday' in the movie! We landed at 12.05 and by the time I reclaimed baggage it was nearly 12.30! John looked tired but of course pleased to see me and it felt great to be back in New York! We finally got to bed about 2.30am. My sleep patterns are still all over the place! More soon!
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