August 1st The pattern continues, a wet day followed by a fine day! Today was warm and sunny so when John returned from work we headed to the beach. It seemed that everyone else had the same idea!
Later we decided to walk over the Bay and have dinner at Randazzos Clam Bar `The pride of Sheepshead Bay!'. It's been there for years and has won various culinary awards. Everyone kept raving about it and for good reason! The food was good! I don't eat seafood often but it I do I like it to be local and fresh.I've never had baked clams before and the clam chowder was excellent. Then place was packed and apparently this is usual right through to the early hours!
August 2nd We had hoped to go down to Manhattan today but once again the weather was wet and stormy. We had very heavy rain and the car is parked some distance away on the week-ends due to parking restrictions in areas near the beach so we caught up on some jobs at home and when it finally cleared up in the late afternoon we took a walk by the beach. Huge puddles were attracting the seagulls by the sea front. In the evening we decided to go to the movies and see Public enemy, the new Johnny Depp film about the life of John Dillinger. Unfortunately there was a problem with the film and the only other feature showing at that time was `The ugly truth' so we decided since we were already there, to watch that. It's a romantic comedy set in Sacramento, California and starring Katherine Heigl of `Knocked up' fame and Scottish actor Gerard Butler. He plays controversial and sexist TV show host Mike Chadway brought into the station to boost ratings. Heigl plays Abby the producer at the show. At first they don't agree on anything and he helps her to pursue her perfect man but then the relationship starts to change ....and I'm sure you can guess the outcome!
August 3rd Today is John's day off. We had many chores to do so they took up most of the day. All the shops we needed to go to are in different places and each one we visit involves finding a parking spot so it all takes a long time. When we finally got home at around 6.30pm we decided to go out and enjoy some fresh air. John put on his running shoes but I walked most of the way. The bay looked beautiful and several fishing boats were leaving. Locals can pay to go out with the fishermen but many just set up a line from the bay. We took a beautiful pic
of the sun seting over the bay.
August 4th Today was wet and humid so I wasn't able to go out until later whehn it brightened up. When John arrived home we decided to go and sit by the beach and relax. Later we played frisbee and then paddle ball, out first game for a while! We watched a show on PBS later which featured music from the Motown era. I lived in London in the 60's and bought many of the records but we didn't get too many of the Motown bands on British TV so it was great to see old clips of The Temptations, The Miracles, The Contours and others. We've seen some other programmes on the same channnel featuring old pop, doo wop bands and disco artists. This is the history of American music and kids today don't know these artists. They're probably not watching either. I'm sure they're glued to MTV but at least the music isn't being forgotten!
August 5th Today the news was mainly focusing on the return of journalists Laura Lim and Euna Lee, US citizens who had been detained in North Korea for 4 months. Ex-President Bill Clinton was sent to negotiate their return and the cameras were ready as their plane landed in California. Of course the girls were overjoyed and relieved to be back and I'm sure we will hear more of their experience once they recover from the trauma of their incarcertion.The other big story was about a 48 year old man who went on a killing spree in a Pennsylvania health club killing 3 women and injuring others because he couldn't get a woman and was lonely. He complained about not being able to connect with women 15-20 years younger than him! My answer would be to look for someone your own age with common interests and it's unlikely you'll find them at the gym. There are so many other ways to meet these days. When will these guys realise that unless you are rich, famous and handsome like Mel Gibson you will not get and keep a young hottie! What a shame that innocent women had to die because of this man's unrealistic expectations.
August 6th Tonight we went down to Coney Island to see soul/pop duo Hall and Oates. These guys were huge in the 70's and 80's and still have a big following as was evident from the massive crowd that turned out. They played one long set which began with their big hit `Maneater'.and worked their way through all their big hits like `One on one' `Say it isn't so' `Family man' `Out of touch' and `Sara smile' and ending with `Kiss on my list' and `Private eyes'. They included some lesser known songs too. The audience loved all the old tunes and sang along especially with `Everybody's high on consolation' which was what they called `She's gone'. That was probably their best known song but not one of their 6 no.1 hits!
The 8 piece band were very tight and Tom `T Bone' Wolk on guitar played some outstanding solos on an amplified acoustic guitar especially on `Its uncanny' a lesser known funky tune from their earlier period.
Bill Thompson was there campaigning to be the next mayor of New York! It's hard fighting someone as wealthy as Bloomberg but good luck to him!
Afterwards we joined friends Ricky and Susie at Cha Chas, the local nightspot, for a drink. Actor Vincent Pastre who played Big Pussy from the Sopranos was there. Maybe he'd been to the concert. People were taking his photo but I wasn't quick enough off the mark!
August 7th We headed off to the park early to get a seat for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. They are a young up and coming band who play retro rock and blues/rock led by Grace Potter who has a voice like Janis Joplin. She's only 26! She also plays Hammond B3 organ and the flying V guitar. We had to sit through two very mediocre bands first but it was worth the wait. The band came on stage and immediately had the audience rockin' They play all original material and its high energy all the way!
No comments:
Post a Comment