60 songs of the 70's and Amoeba music on Sunset.

guaranteed you be so sick of cheesy seventies songs after listening to this CD in it's entirety, like i did on my shift the other day all 60 songs.. Yes all 60 corny seventies classics .. Actually i really liked this era . Considering I have great memories of growing up in that great decade.Must of been around maybe 7-15 years at the time.. good memories for sure. Great CD all songs, or i wouldn't of bought it. Bought it at

wherehouse records by my apartment.There's another one in Hollywood called Amoeba on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood that i have been meaning to check out.I mean i download songs legally when i can usually on Amazon.com (mp3)'s ,But it's just easier to buy a CD sometimes..Meaning the downloading process can be kind of tedious in my opinion.downloading the songs. paying for it online .. trying to put the songs in the right area on your hard drive. That all adds up. and sometimes for me just buying a used CD is so much easier. Plus i like some of the artwork that comes on certain CD's that you buy. Like I said though after listening to this CD. You will be ready for some hard rock and roll or whatever your genre is.

Netflick

OK found myself watching a great concert film on Net flick last night. Was actually home early and got a chance to watch a great film and would recommend this concert to anyone who has any interest in music. Grew up watching Tina Turner in the eighties .. she was a good performer in some of the videos i saw in the eighties- better be good to me- was one them. .However the film i saw last night she was in here prime and so was Ike . Wasn't really familiar with them in those days (i was only around 7 in 1971).Never seen such a cool cat as Ike Turner. Just had a great presence and kind of stayed backed by the drummer however he gave off the aura of being the leader of the band (hard to explain -watch the documentary).Anyway just got net flick about 5-6 months ago and would highly recommend it. watching all those movies i grew up with in the seventies and watching documentary's on music and history . It's a must.Don't think i could go with out it since we have it now.

The actual train ride was about a hour , my destination was Fisherman's wharf. Don't all tourists flock to Fisherman's Wharf (Pier 39)? Anyway had no idea what station to disembark from the train . So i chose the Embarcadero station (try to pronounce that one if you're not familiar w/ this station). Anyway got off the train and went up to the street level.Asked someone on the street how far Fisherman's wharf was (they told me about 25-30 minutes away. So i gave up on getting to the wharf and hopped on a street car (found out they are different then the cable cars) the cable cars actually have cables underneath the ground, the street cars are different. Very efficient city to get around on the public transportation for sure . When i got on the street car i had no idea which direction i was going (i don't know this city very well, have been there quite a few times- maybe like 6-8 times before) but definitely don't know it like Los Angeles. Started talking to someone on the train that was really nice and she helped me get around, and by looking at the map on street car itself, somewhat helpful. Anyway ended in the Union square area and was looking for a place for lunch. Was actually in the mood for some seafood, however my friend from Los Angeles used to do design work for Macy's in San Francisco and recommended a place called Lefty O'Douls.. similiar to a Boston Irish bar ( i fit right in ) found it and was really good. They had a carving station for Prime rib,mashed potatoes , corn somewhat like a cafeteria style where you chose your sides . Really good and somewhat reasonable.After lunch my mission was to find Chinatown (it's one of the largest Chinatown's in the country).Found it (will try to get you the link of my you tube video see if it works) . After Chinatown found North Beach, this seems to be the Italian section of town (also the red light district) At this point was getting tired of walking and knew i had to get back to that pool at the hotel before 9:00 pm (when the pool closed) so that's just what i did.. San Francisco is a great city and would recomend it to anyone that has never been there for sure

The next day after the graduation was kind of needing a getaway (from my family) so i decided to take the Bart out of Pittsburgh into the city. Had never been on the Bart and thought it would be kind of fun to explore San Francisco. Drove to the Bart station from the hotel and parked the car . The station is kind of confusing if you have never been to it before . They provided parking and such. However you had to pay a dollar to park there for the day. Wasn't sure how to do this (guess you had to jot down your spot and pay somewhere). When i got to the station, there was a gentleman in the booth who i asked. He told me didn't have to pay on Sunday which was a relief . .However the actual ticket itself was all self serve and extremely confusing if you have never been on the Bart . Anyway put my credit card in payed $20.00 (think actually i only had to pay $11.00) but i was in a rush to catch the train and asked someone later about it . Apparently if you have credit on the ticket, you can use it at a later time (till it expires) anyway gave the ticket to my brother's ex-wife, she lives up there and could get some use out of it...

OK need to finish this blog (it's incomplete) so the reason i went up to San Francisco was my nephew was graduating from high school . The graduation was at 9am on Saturday which was fairly early i thought. Anyway really nice campus and nice ceremony at a Northern California high school. The high school was Heritage high in Brentwood (please note this is Northern CA. Brentwood not Los Angeles Brentwood) there are two, which can be kind of confusing.. Anyway it went really well. Actually don't think i have ever been to a graduation from High school. I mean i graduated from high school , but i don't recall going to the ceremony .Anyway it was done really well and the weather was really windy , however sunny .. tried to set up a link on this for this video i had of it, but it blew up on me (didn't work).. anyway a graduation is probably not the most exiting thing for you all, and will move on.

When i finally got to the hotel.

Just was glad to get there after 5 and a half six hours of driving. My wonderful brother (being a bit sarcastic) had assured me we would have to separate beds. Unfortunately there was a large queen size bed and a pull out couch for me! Anyway gave him a call (he was at the Giant's game w/ my nephew) and asked him what was up? He told me it was the only room available ( it was busy up there because there were like two or three schools having a graduation) .Anyway was just glad not to be driving . The pool area was closing at nine and i believe it was about 8:20pm PT- when i arrived. Needless to say the hotel had a Jacuzzi and you know i spent every minute till nine in that ..

Finally made it...

After leaving Santa Nella my destination was only about a hour and 15 minutes from there..Was looking forward to getting to my destination and starting a long well deserved rest and or break from work .. you see i hardly ever get any free time off .. other than my standard two days off from work. so it was really well deserved i had taken some time of in December for about five days to go to Boston unexpectedly . However that was not really a vacation (my grandmother died) .. so this was actually a happy occasion . My nephew graduated from high school. Anyway got to the destination thanks to my Garmin because i don't really know the bay area to well. I mean i have been up there several times. But where my nephew lives he is by farm country .. not really in the city of San Francisco.. He's in the east bay so i was actually driving down country roads and such...

the long drive up.

After getting over the grapevine (not sure why they call it this because actually when you finally get over the big mountain there is a exit called grapevine) This is what i have always called this climb over the big mountain and it's the only why i know how to say it and not sure where i first heard this expression? feel free to leave a comment if you have heard it called something else.. Anyway after you pass over the grapevine , i always notice there's a lot less people out in the Bakersfield area.. which is just fine with me growing up in Southern New Hampshire... have no qualms with small town living and all that .. When you live in a metropolis area as large as Los Angeles it's something you gradually get used to the traffic, congestion driving by the movie studios and seeing the help wanted signs for high paying union jobs ! NOT (just seeing if your paying attention). no seriously anyway after about 4- of 5 hours of straight driving stopped in a small town called Santa Nella which is actually a cool stop out on the 5 in the middle of nowhere. However stopped at a place called Pea Anderson's restaurant and had a great dinner of pot roast and of course there famous split pea soup.

OK haven't done a blog for the longest time and think it's due time.. reason i haven't blogged in over two long years ... well just not taking the time to continue it for one reason or another.. work constraints and such have also been contributing factors ( i work a lot of hours and don't really have to much free time is what i am trying to say). Anyway was invited to a graduation in the Bay area (meaning San Francisco area) .. and had a great 4 day weekend. Started out on Friday Morning ventured up the dreaded grapevine , the grapevine is a large mountain you have to go over to get out of the big city of Los Angeles.. As i was driving up the hill saw a brush fire which slowed me down a bit with traffic and also made me a little worrisome .Worried basically they were going to shut down the 5 going North and i was going to sit in the hot sun in my high mileage car and overheat or something...Don't want to be in a hot van in the middle of city of Gorman in mid- June .. that's for sure...