August 16th-22nd

August 16th The heat is building again. We had planned to go bowling but I managed to strain my back so we went to the beach for a while to cool off and later went to the movies to see `The Goods'. It was the late showing at 10pm but to my surprise the cinema was almost full! This would never happen back home! We had to drive around for quite a while to find a parking spot. We had hoped to see `Public enemy' the new Johnny Depp movie that we missed seeing two weeks ago as the film was defective. but it wasn't showing so we settled for `The Goods: Live hard, sell hard' '. It stars Jeremy Piven.I'd never heard of him but he's a big star over here right now. We've watched him a few times as a Hollywood Agent in `Entourage' on HBO TV. This series has been running since 2004 and follows the lives of a group of young men in the entertainment industry in Hollywood. It has been very popular and Piven has won several Emmy Awards for his role. In `The Goods' Piven plays Don Ready a high powered car salesman. He and his team are brought to a town in California to save a failing car yard, quite topical in 2009! The movie had its moments but some the humour fell flat and as is often the case in these type of comedy movies there was overkill with some scenes and too many sub plots I liked James Brolin as Ben Selleck the car yard owner Ed Helms and Ken Jeong who we saw recently in the Hangover had minor roles as did the ubiquitous Will Ferrell.

August 17th Once again Monday has arrived. Doing our shopping and Louise's, which has to be done at a different supermarket, took up most of the afternoon. We dropped her shopping off first today and we all ate Chinese takeout for lunch. John's friend Katie who now lives in Vegas dropped by with her mother Diana and step father George. I hadn't met them before so we chatted for a while and took some photos but Katie was heading back to Vegas so it was brief! John is located en route to JFK so it was easy for them to drop by!


It was a pleasant evening so we decided to walk across the bay and try the Turkish restaurant Bay Shish. It was busy for a Monday night but we weren't in any hurry. We shared a platter and a large salad.
It was too hot to contemplate a hot meal!



August 18th Today was the hottest day of the year so far. Health warnings were given out on the news.
One news story with a happy ending was that of musical prodigy Hahn Bin left a 184 year old violin valued at $500,000 on the back seat of a New York cab. The violin was on loan from a benefactor. Luckily the NYPD and the Taxi and Limousine Commission got on the case and 15 hours later a relieved Bin was reunited with his instrument!
After dinner we watched a great live show on TV with Levon helm and various guests. He plays around New York quite often with his Midnight Ramble sessions which usually sell out! We thought about trying to see him but I read that he has to rest his voice a rest as he has overtaxed it. He will still play drums and mandolin but we like to hear him sing too. Oh well...maybe next time!
August 19th Today was another scorcher so most of it was spent inside with the air conditioner on. In the morning I watched one of my favourite morning programmes the Doctors. A panel of doctors deal with health problems sent in by viewers. Later after a walk by the Bay we watched The notorious Betty Page. I didn't know who she was before watching this movie but apparently she caused quite a stir in the 50's. She was a pin up girl who posed for some shots considered too revealing at that time so a court case ensued. Gretchen Moll played Betty. Part of the movie was filmed in black and white to achieve an authentic 50's look.
August 20th Tonight we headed down to Coney island for Salsa by the Sea. These concerts wind up next week. Hurricane Bill is looming so the weather is again very oppressive and the crowd is down. The first act was the Maria Torres Dancers who were pretty impressive. Next was Archangel who we didn't go for. They are really more hip hop than Salsa. Tigo Calderon was next. He was an improvement on Arcangel but we weren't really enthused so we left before Victor Manuelle, the main act who is a more traditional Salsa performer. Guess we should have gone later!
August 21st. Hurricane Bill is now about 700 miles off shore and apparently there are some dangerous rip tides so all the New York beaches are closed including our own Manattan Beach. This rarely happens but already this year there have been many swimmers drowning especially at Rockaway beach where we went last year.Rockaway is directly on the ocean whereas Manhattan Beach is in a bay so conditions are much safer. I had a walk down there just before the thunder and rain hit in the afternoon and it was quite strange to see it almost deserted. Police were there ready to arrest anyone foolish enough to try to swim!

In the evening we headed down to Coney Island where John's friend Tommy was having a birthday bash at Cha Chas. Usually the place is packed for the Friday night fireworks but tonight they were cancelled and the place was relatively quiet. The amusement park was closed too so it seemed really dark without the lights of the Wonder Wheel and other rides. Apparently the fairground operators have not paid rent to the owners so this was the reason it was closed, not due to the weather. Although cloudy the rain actually held off and surprisingly there were still some boats out on the ocean, perhaps expecting the fireworks! We got into the party spirit with a few beers at Cha Chas and afterwards went to the Burlesque show. I'd only seen Burlesque on TV before, never live. It is parodying theatre and is really good entertainment and the striptease is always tasteful and not pornographic! No total nudity! This show incorporated humour and some great magic tricks!











August 22nd Hurricane Bill is still threatening and the beach is closed but the predicted storms didn't hit today.

I woke up very late after a very restless night due to the humidity and John returned from work exhausted as he also hadn't slept well, so we decided to have a relaxing evening at home. After dinner John made popcorn and we watched a movie called `Vanishing point' a remake of a 1970's cult movie starring Viggo Mortensen as Jimmy Kowalski who is hurrying a thousand miles home to be with his sick pregnant wife, In the tradition of the Blues Brothers, Smokey and the Bandit and others, he is being hunted by police while becoming a hero of the people!
Later we watched a special on Hendrix showing most of his legendary performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1957.This was not long after I saw him when he first came to London and hooked up with Mitch and Noel. He looked and sounded fantastic. I would have loved to have been at that festival but I am returning via Monterey again and will be back at the Jazz Festival next month!