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| Self portrait with bolos |
August is shaping up to be another busy month of gigs,
mostly all with Parlor Tricks.
But it got started the weekend of August 4 with Agency EL84 playing the
Stinson Beach Party on a bill with two other bands; Brodaddy and The
Tomorrowmen. The gig was a ton of
fun, although not particularly well attended - but those who were there seemed to dig it. We didn’t get paid but we got all the free BBQ’d
oysters we could eat, and I did
eat a few.
My friend Colleen, the original Gidget, came up from the
city for the big beach party. I picked her up at the ferry in Sausalito and
then out to Stinson. It was a
foggy day, and at times it felt more like Brigadoon than the Golden State, but
fun was had by all.
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| Agency EL 84 in action! |
The following weekend was a Parlor Tricks double header: wedding in Boonville on Saturday,
re-wedding on Sunday in Berkeley.
The drive from Sacto to Boonville is about 3 hours, and I had a couple
of different options on how to get there.
I choose the road less traveled.
This route took me past Clear Lake, which I had never been to, and was
interested in seeing.
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| Clear Lake: NorCal Lake Cuomo? |
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| Public Pier on Clear Lake |
On the route I couldn’t help stopping at a road-side Thrift
Store where I found a great Western bow tie. I’d been looking for one of these
forever, so when I saw this one in red rhinestones, for the grand price of one
dollar it was a “must buy.” They
also had a kind of nice (but not fantastic) brass belt buckle for just two
dollars so I picked that up to add to my collection of one (now two) buckles.
But then, just up the street, I found an old feller selling
some stuff by the roadside at a sort of a mini flea market. He had a couple of FANTASTIC belt
buckles that he let go 10 bucks each.
He also had a great Navajo silver cuff bracelet watch with nice big
chunks of turquoise and coral but he wanted 100.00 bucks for that – out of my
price range. I have been keeping my eye open for those types of
watches…. (more on that in minute)…
He then asked me if knew what the most valuable buckle on
his table was, and since I thought I just bought the best two, I was a little
perplexed. He pointed to a kind of
nondescript pewter buckle commemorating the Korean War, of which he was a
veteran. That was the most
valuable he said, because so few were made. We discussed his service, and I suggested he take that
buckle off the table. After a
moment he decided it was his to keep.
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| Rhinestone Cowboy Bow |
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| Three New Buckles |
While I was thinking what a great area to have a summer
cottage, I passed a small lane named Bruner Drive. I guess some other Bruner passed this was and thought it was
cool place as well. It is not
often that you see Bruner spelled that way. Here in NorCal, I do run across other “Bruners” but they are
usually spelled Breuner…
I got to the gig in Boonville around 1:30, although the band
was not due to set up until 3pm, and damn it was hot, 100 degrees or so. Sacto had been hot, but I was hoping it
would be cooler up in the redwoods, but not so.
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| Driveway to Wild Iris Retreat |
The wedding was absolutely gorgeous. It was at the Wild Iris Retreat, which
is up on top of a mountain with views all around. The grounds were beautifully done, including a pool and
small dance “barn” open on one side.
The gig went well, with people enjoying themselves. So many young beautiful people, so much
love in the air.
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| The Ceremony |
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| Melina of Parlor Tricks |
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| Bassman and Dancers |
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| Parlor Tricks rocks the Barn |
After the gig I drove down to Bart’s, about 2 hours away
(hellish after a long hot day), stayed overnight, and then off to the next gig
around 11:30 am. Life of the
traveling musician…
This gig, too, was in a beautiful setting: a wonderful house,
mansion really, in the Berkeley hills,
complete with its own private Greek theater framed by towering
redwoods. This event was a
couple renewing their vows after 20 years, so it was little more low key, but
lover-ly nonetheless.
Then back to Sacto, back to work. I’ve been roped into working with the video production unit
filming a training video showing how we administer supplemental drive tests to
stroke victims. I got to play the
stoke victim. Oy. But, hey, it’s better than digging
ditches on a hot day. Actually I
must confess it was kind of fun.
I did a little local thrifting and found what may be my new
best steal: a wonderful ladies’
Navajo silver cuff watch with rose quartz stones. Really beautiful one-of-a-kind craftsmanship by a guy named
Jameson Lee for a mere 19.95. I
checked on Ebay and found other similar pieces by Lee going for 250.00. Also at the same thrift stop I found a
men’s Faux Navajo (Faux-Jo?) watch for 7.99.
I picked it up as well, but it is just costume jewelry, not really
valuable, just cheap cast metal with fake turquoise, but it still looks
cool. It is funny. I had just seen that silver Navajo cuff
watch by the side of the road (for more money than I cared to pay) and then two
turn up at a thrift store in a similar style… It often seems to go that way….I
get alerted to something I want to collect and then it turns up unexpectedly…
Was it there all along and I was missing it? Or is it attracted to the “light?”
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| Faux-Jo |
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| The Real Deal - Jameson Lee Silversmith |
Then another P-Tricks gig on Wednesday night in SF. It was a fund raiser for a local
politico, a young liberal guy named Julian Davis running for 5th
District Supervisor. The best part
of the event was where it was held:
The Westerfield Mansion, and incredible restored Victorian. It is to die for, really.
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| Westerfield Mansion, this shot does not do it justice! |
On the way down to the gig I set some bad karma in motion
and got immediate payback. Why is it that bad karma slaps you in the face right
away and good karma comes around so slowly?
Okay here’s my sad story of moral degradation, I am not
proud. A few weeks ago while
thrifting, I found a great clock for the camper: it was made from a slice of log, with a Native American
themed clock face, but the hands were corroded and I didn’t like their style
anyway. So I bought some new hands
at Michael’s Craft Supplies, and put them on. The clock worked fine.
But... although these hands were BETTER, I did still did not LOVE
them. Well…on the way to the gig
on Wednesday, I stopped at the West Sac Goodwill and I saw a clock that had the
perfect hands for my camper
clock. Well… I didn’t want to pay
for the whole darned clock, even though it was only 4 bucks, so I removed the
hands from the clock and walked out with them. I haven’t done anything like that since I was a kid. Yes, it was a moral low point, stealing
from the Goodwill (!) and I knew I would be punished!
And punished I was. When I got back to the camper after the gig, I was excited
to put the lifted hands on the clock, but somehow this time when I installed the new hands
I broke the clock movement. I had replaced the other set of hands without incident, and am not sure what I did differently this time. But this time I busted the clock.
I did some online research to find a replacement for the
movement, and it wasn’t hard to find: there are lot’s of people into making
clocks out of “whatever” as craft projects. The prices on the movement part run
from about 5 up to 12 bucks. Not bad, but I wanted it fixed NOW, so I found a
local Sacto clock repair guy. I went into his shop and it was amazing. He had this incredible antique 8 foot
tall hunting lodge themed cuckoo clock, as well as many others that were just
mind blowing. Well, he said he would
not sell me the movement outright, but he could fix my clock for 26.00 while I
wait. He said he would use a
quality Seiko movement, guarantee it for a year, blah, blah, blah After thinking a few minutes and under the influence of the
wonderful and bizarre clocks surrounding me (I am a sucker for clocks), I
succumbed. I said, “Go ahead,
let’s do it.”
So my “free” hands ended up costing almost 30.00 with
tax. And not only that, I let the
guy screw me over on the deal. The Seiko
movement wouldn’t fit so he had to use a lower quality Takane movement, plus I
didn’t need the hands that came at no cost with the movement. Really the guy should have knocked a couple of bucks off his
price, but I just signed on the dotted line. Take it away, baby.
That’s Karma!
Just think, if I had actually paid for that thrift store
clock that I lifted the hands from, I would have had a spare movement to use
when the other one broke. Of
course the original movement never would have broken because I would not have
incurred the Karmic Rath!
Karma, Live and learn. “I have really learned my lesson this time!” I said again.
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| Log Clock in the camper, with bad karma hands. |
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