Monday, April 30, 2007

Gillespie's Store

Pony Express
Gillespie's Store

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"Gillespie's Store" stood at this spot. This was also a Wells Fargo & Co office. E.F. Gillespie was their first agent in Vacaville.

There would only be 2 trips overland by horse to San Francisco from Sacramento in 1860. In 1861 this would be repeated another 18 times. On the first trip the pony express rider Sam Hamilton took the Yolo Plank Turnpike across the tule swampland cross Putah Creek and made his first stop for another horse at the Solano House.

His next destination was the "Halfway House" where a red lantern would hang high as a beacon at Silveyville. Then with another relay change he rode off to Vacaville and "Gillespie's Store." When he arrived here it was around 4:00 a.m. and he left within a few minutes on another fresh horse.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Back from San Francisco

We had a lazy morning finally getting organized and meeting the Larkin's in the lobby about 9:00 a.m. After some discussion, we decided to go out to Fort Point and walk back along the promenade. Unfortunately, when we got out there, it was too windy and cold to walk along the shore. We wandered through Fort Point and then drove around the Presido and through the Marina District neighborhoods.

The group stopped for lunch at Scoma's

The Larkin's are in the market for another horse. After lunch, we headed east to 580 and up into the hills above Livermore to look at a horse. The house was at the top of a hill with some gorgeous views! By the time we got back to Elk Grove, it was after 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Picasso and American Art

After his game, I dropped Jack at his cousin's and met the Larkin's. We had made plans to spend a couple of days in San Francisco. Sharon and Liz had gone to the city Friday night so that Sharon could see Marianne Williamson at a conference.

Joe, Cindy and I met Sharon at the Serrano Hotel and checked in. Afterwards, we walked to the San Francisco MOMA to see Picasso and American Art. The exhibit was designed to show how a number of American artists had directly and openly interpreted Picasso's style, appropriated his palette, or used his work as a point of departure. In addition to a number of works by Picasso, the show included works by Stuart Davis, Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, John Graham, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Jackson Pollock, David Smith, and Max Weber. I was amazed how some of these artists had so blatantly copied Pisacco. Afterwards, we explored some of the rest of the Museum.

Wandering back to the hotel, we cleaned up for dinner. We made a stop at Cityscape on the 46th floor of the Hilton to enjoy views of the city. From there, we went to dinner at Firenze by Night. We finished the night with stops at the crowded Redwood Room in the Clift Hotel and at Ponzu in the Serrano Hotel.

Moblog San Francisco

2007 Baseball Game #7

Jack played in his seventh baseball game of the 2007 season against the Cardinals. Jack played three innings at shortstop. He made a number of nice plays in the field.

At the plate, he was 0 for 2. Jack struck out the first time at-bat. In his second at-bat, he hit the ball sharply on the ground to the left side, but was out at a very close play at first to end the game.

His team lost 18 to 6. Their record is now 2 wins and 5 losses. Jack is getting more than a little frustrated with losing.

Moblog Baseball Game #7

Friday, April 27, 2007

2007 Indoor Soccer Game 9

Jack played in his ninth soccer game of the 2007 winter indoor season. This was the championship game for second indoor season. Before the game, they had all of the kids line up and they introduced all of the players by name. The Cobras played the only team that has beat them in the last four months; they lost to this team two months ago for the championship of the first indoor season.

Jack played halfback for more than 10 minutes of the first half and then played goalie for about 15 minutes of second half.

The other team scored within the first minute of the game, but Jack's team battled back to lead by the score of 2 to 1 at half-time. His team ended up winning the game by a score of 5 to 3.

After the game was over, all of the boys keep asking where their t-shirts were. They thought that they would get a t-shirt for winning the league like they got for winning an indoor tournament at Christmas!

Thursday, April 26, 2007

April 2007 Pack Meeting

While I went to an evening meeting, Sharon and Jack went to the April meeting of his Cub Scout Pack.

3rd Grade: Art Lesson F

Sharon spent the afternoon as the art docent for Jack's class. The lesson examined how artists use fantasy as a form of abstract art. They talked about the lives and art of Paul Klee and Marc Chagall. The lesson used three paintings as examples of different styles: Head of Man by Paul Klee; and Feathers in Bloom and I and the Village by Marc Chagall.




For their art project, the kids made their own fantasy picture out of a collage of different materials.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

2007 Baseball Game #6

Jack played in his sixth baseball game of the 2007 season against the Cardinals. He played shortstop for two innings, first base for one inning and pitched one inning. He made a nice play at first; he fielded the ball far to his right and raced the runner to first base. Jack had a rough inning pitching. He had trouble getting the ball over the plate.

At the plate, Jack was 2 for 2. He drove one through the left side in his first at bat. With two strikes in his second at bat, he fouled off four pitches before hitting an infield single. Jack scored twice.

His team lost by a score of 11 to 9. Their record is 2 wins and 4 losses. Jack is not happy about losing.

AR50 Pace by Mile

click on the chart for a larger, more readable copy!

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Song for 1995

Sharon and I started dating in early 1995. When Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill album was released in June of 1995, Sharon identified with the emotional tone of the album. She found in the lyrics of You Oughta Know an echo of her own feelings about a past relationship. Sharon played the album a lot...

The song for 1995 is You Oughta Know.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

2007 Baseball Game #5

Jack played in his fifth baseball game of the 2007 season against the White Sox. He played shortstop for three innings and pitched two innings. At the plate, he was 1 for 3. He struck out in his first at bat, lined one to the right side and was just barely out as he and the first baseman raced to the base and singled on a soft pop-up in front of the third baseman.

His team lost by a score of 9 to 5. Their record is 2 wins and 3 losses.



Friday, April 20, 2007

La Provence

With Jack at an overnight birthday party, Sharon and I went to dinner with the Cunningham's at La Provence. Sharon has been to this restaurant three times since last September and every time she has had rack of lamb. I had a steak.

Rovegno House

Rovegno House
National Register of Historic Places #1991001384

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This historic place is located at 6711 Washington Street in the city of Yountville, the county of Napa, California.

 
Built from local field stone and river rock in the early 1890's as a brandy distillery, this distinct French country stone structure is now the Burgundy House Inn, a bed and breakfast. It features 20-inch thick walls and wooden beams with the impressions of ax marks left by the craftsmen who built the building.

Will Ferrell in "The Landlord"

Will Ferrell + Foul-Mouthed Two-Year-Old = Viral Hit

AR50 News Stories

The Auburn Journal had two stories on Saturday's American River 50 run:

500 take on wind, rain for 50-mile run

A finish line, a first step completed

Thursday, April 19, 2007

2007 Baseball Game #4

After two straight rain-outs, Jack's baseball team played its fourth game of the season against the Angels. Jack was 1 for 1 with two walks at the plate and scored twice.

In the field, he played left field one inning, shortstop two innings and first base one inning. Jack made a couple of nice plays at shortstop including a diving stop to his left where he plowed into the runner coming off second and a hard grounder that he fielded and threw the runner out at first. He also made one diving catch on a sinking line drive while he was playing first.

His team lost by the score of 17 to 12. Their record is now 2 wins and 2 losses.



Wednesday, April 18, 2007

2007 Kings versus Lakers

Larkin and I went to the Sacramento Kings versus Los Angeles Lakers basketball game. With the Kings ahead 57 to 54 at halftime, Bryant scored 14 points in the third quarter, including the first six in a 17-2 run that gave the Lakers a 73-63 lead midway through the third quarter. The Lakers went on to beat the Kings by a score of 117 to 106.

Larkin gave me the ticket to the game for my birthday. We sat in Section 104, Row F, Seat 3 and 4. For years, he and I have tried to go to the first and last game of the season.

I was amazed at the number of Lakers fans. There were a large number of people wearing Lakers jerseys.

I have to admit Kobe is a force of nature. As Marty McNeal notes in this column today, hoopster Albert "Guss" Armstead recently said of Bryant, "He makes the game look so easy, he ought to start his own league." He scored 34 points and it did not look like he was even working hard. Bryant wrapped up his second straight scoring title, averaging 31.6 points this season.

The Kings (33-49) finished their worst season since going 27-55 in 1997-98. The Kings finished the season 20-21 at Arco Arena, the first time they had a losing record at home since 1993-94.

Musselman must go! His substitution patterns make no sense. After scoring 17 points in the first quarter, Bibby only played 8 minutes in the rest of the game.

Moblog Kings versus Lakers

 

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

2007 AR50 Summary

When I left the house for the start of the race, it was not raining. By the time, I parked at the starting line on the east side of Cal Expo, it was raining lightly. The race started at 6:00 a.m. in the pitch dark. Over the next hour, it rained harder and harder. I had purchased a jacket for running in the rain on Friday night and was reasonably comfortable in spite of the steady rain.

My plan for the race was to run for 25 minutes and walk for 5 minutes. My goal was not to run any mile under 10:00. In training, I have been able to run a 10 minute per mile pace and walk 5 minutes of every half hour and maintain a 11 minute per mile pace. Over the course of the day, I was able to keep this pattern, although not the pace, up for more than 9 hours.

The first nineteen miles are pretty flat and easy; the course follows the bike trail up the river. Sharon, Jack and another friend met me at the Nimbus Dam Overlook. I had originally planned to walk through this aid station without really stopping. I ended up spending five minutes changing into dry socks, shirt and hat.

Leaving the the Nimbus Dam Overlook, I got a taste of what the afternoon was going to be like. We left the bike trail and climbed away from the lake on some horse trails. Dropping back down to the lake at Negro Bar, the course climbed along the bike trail to Beals Point. It actually stopped raining for about hour as I headed towards the Folsom Dam.

Joe and Cindy Larkin, Sharon and Jack met me at Beals Point with more dry clothes. Unfortunately, at this point, it started raining again. It would rain steadily for the next six hours.

After a short jaunt along the shore of Lake Folsom, Cindy, Joe, Sharon and Jack met me again at Granite Bay with even more dry clothes. Larkin joined me at this point and ran the last 18 plus miles with me. Starting at this aid station, Larkin started getting me to drink a couple cups of soup every time we stopped; this seemed to have a major impact in keeping my energy up over the next few hours.

While I was very familiar with the first 32 miles of the trail, I had never covered the last 18 miles before. I had a rude surprise. The nine mile stretch of the trail from Granite Bay to Rattlesnake Bar is a narrow undulating hiking/horse path. With the rain and the fact that more than five hundred people had been over the trail already that day, it was a muddy slick mess with large puddles and rivulets. Additionally, the rain caused the poison oak to droop into the trail, lots and lots of poison oak. I struggled through this section and was looking forward to getting to the Rattlesnake bar aid station. The only aid station in this stretch did not have any soup which I think helped contribute to my struggles.

Although I had been posting pictures and splits to my weblog through 30 miles, I gave up after Granite Bay. I stopped taking pictures partially due to the fact that I did not have any cell phone coverage and partially due to the fact that I was struggling to maintain my footing in the mud and dodge the poison oak. I have some regrets that I did not get any pictures while we were on the muddy trails in the canyon.

As we approached the Rattlesnake Bar aid station, someone sitting under an umbrella by the side of the trail said that it was about 1/2 mile to the aid station. Although I should have known better based on my GPS, I latched on to the fact like a drowning man. Over a mile later, I was not happy. It turned out to be more like a mile and a half to the aid station with me muttering to Larkin most of the way.

I changed my hat, shirt and socks again at Rattlesnake Bar. From there, after having some more soup, I actually felt stronger. Although still extremely muddy and slick, the trail was slightly better after Rattlesnake Bar.

At this point, I went away from running 25 minutes and walking 5 minutes as a pattern. Instead, we walked up the uphills and jogged the flats and downhills.

I am not the most sure-footed beast. I was sure that I was going to end up slipping and falling in the mud. Although I staggered a couple of times, including once along a narrow section with a long steep rocky drop to the lake, I never fell.

In the days leading up to the race, there was a fair amount of e-mail traffic questioning my sanity. I had said in my e-mail that unless something goes horribly wrong that I intended to post a picture to my weblog at least every hour. One of my favorite e-mails said that if "something goes horribly wrong, those are the postings I want to see on the weblog." As we are running, I shared this with Larkin. He and I laughed about him using the camera phone to take picture of me bleeding on the rocks on the shore.

I really appreciated having Larkin with me on the trail. Although a lot of people had pacers with them, there were a number of people out there by themselves. My idea of a good time would not have been stumbling along in the mud and the rain by myself for five hours. Having covered this part of the course on foot and horseback, he also knew the terrain which helped.

As we reached the point where we started climbing steeply away from the lake, it actually stopped raining. In hindsight the rain did not brother me as much as I thought it would. The rain and the cloud cover contributed to keeping me cool.

While the rain was not much of an issue, I could have done without the mud and the treacherously slick trail. I told Cindy after the race that one of my regrets was that I could not really enjoy the scenery in the canyon. The trail was so slick that you really had to focus on where you put every step.

I ended up finishing in 11 hours, 49 minutes and 53 second for a pace of 14:13 per mile. Overall, I was 405 out of 477 finishers. The race was limited to 500 people. I had originally projected finishing in about 10 hours and 50 minutes, but between the long stops at the aid stations, the mud and the steepness of the course in several places I was not able to carry quite as much speed.

All in all, I am very satisfied with the end result.

My body held up great the whole day. I did not have any pain. My knees, back and hips did not brother me at all!

Larkin, Cindy, Sharon, Jack and I finished the day having Mexican Food for dinner in Auburn.

I have gotten a lot of questions about why I was running an Ultra. I have run regularly for more 30 years to manage my weight and stress. I have done a few 10ks, half-marathons and marathons. I have always enjoyed challenging myself. It seemed apt to attempt the 50 mile run as a way to celebrate 50 years on this earth. I also made an attempt to run the American River 50 with Larkin in 1989. It was an extremely hot day with temperatures into the 90s. I dropped after 31 miles because I was worried about hurting myself. It has nagged at me that I did not finish the run.

I set running the 2007 American River 50 as a goal more than two and a half years ago, I am proud of achieving this goal.

NBA Referee Suspended

Referee Suspended for Incident With N.B.A. Star - New York Times
The N.B.A. suspended the veteran referee Joey Crawford for the last two days of the regular season and the entire playoffs for his behavior Sunday toward Duncan.

Hornets play it safe

Sports - Hornets play it safe with Stojakovic - sacbee.com
Stojakovic played only 13 games this season after signing a free-agent deal reportedly worth $64 million over five years. His last appearance was Nov. 18.

Monday, April 16, 2007

2007 AR50 Elevation Graph

The last three miles of the American River 50 climb almost 900 feet up out of the canyon to the Auburn Dam Overlook. The graph shown below was generated by the Training Center Software from data in my garmin.

click on the graph for a larger version!


I also took the data from the garmin and imported it into Google Earth. This allows me to examine trail from different perspectives. I can voom in and out and rotate the terrain. The view shown below is the last three miles. The first section in the lower left as we left the river was so steep that my right thigh was cramping just walking up it. In the middle of the graphic in the green trail is a red dot. This was the Last Gasp aid station where we stopped and loaded up before tackling the last two plus miles. On the right side of the picture you can see the mess that is the Auburn Dam construction site.

click on the picture for a larger copy!

Last three miles of the AR50

Here is a slightly different Google Earch view of the last three miles of the 2007 American River 50.

click on the picture for a larger copy!

Sunday, April 15, 2007

2007 AR50 Course Map

Using data from the garmin, I generated a map of the American River 50 run on Saturday.

click on the map for a larger copy!
American River 50 AR50 Course Map

The Day after the AR50

My legs are extremely stiff and sore; it is difficult to go up and down the stairs.

I am working on a written summary of the American River 50 yesterday. I also have pictures from Sharon and Cindy to post. Although I thought that my Garmin was going to die at one point, it lasted until about 10 minutes after we crossed the finish line. As a result, I have a huge amount of data from the garmin for maps and other information. More soon...

Saturday, April 14, 2007

I did it! 50 miles!

AR50 Mile 31.14 Pace 12:17

AR50 Mile 30.18 Pace 11:59

AR50 Mile 26.70 Pace 11:51

AR50 Mile 25.58 Pace 11:42

AR50 Mile 20.87 Pace 11:30

AR50 Mile 18.44 Pace 11:28

AR50 Mile 16.35 Pace 11:00

AR50 Mile 11.10 Pace 10:55

AR50 Mile 05.52 Pace 10:49

AR50 Mile 00.00 Pace 00:00

Friday, April 13, 2007

2007 Indoor Soccer Game 8

Jack has missed a number of weeks of indoor soccer due to cub scouts, spring training, a bye and a Kings game. He played in his eighth indoor soccer of the year. Jack played forward for the first 10 minutes and scored two goals. He played goalie for the second 10 minutes of the first half. In the second half, Jack played 10 minutes of fullback.

I was amazed at how well the whole team is spreading the field and passing the ball. I think that 8 of the 12 kids on the team ended up scoring goals. They ended up winning by a score of 10 to 1.

Rain for tomorrow...

For months, I have worried about the weather for tomorrow's run. Mostly, I worried about how hot it was going to be. I ran the race in the late 1980's with Larkin and the temperatures got into the low 90s.

The forecast for tomorrow is for the valley to get a dousing of rain, with showers forecast to begin around daybreak and remain steady into the afternoon. uuugggghhhhh......

Thursday, April 12, 2007

The human cost of the Civil War

From Team of Rivals, page 346:
The Confederates had fired the first shot. A war had begun that no one imagined would last four years and cost greater than six hundred thousand lives-more than the cumulative total of all our other wars, from the Revolution to Iraq. The devastation and sacrifice would reach into every community, into almost every family, in a nation of 31.5 million. In proportion to today's population, the number of deaths would exceed five million.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

CA Historical Landmark #795

Benicia Seminary
California State Historical Landmark #175

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This landmark is located in Benicia City Park on Military Way between 1st and 2nd Streets in Solano County in Benicia, California. There are 13 other California State Historical Landmarks in Solano County.


The birthplace of Mills College. Founded in 1852 as the Young Ladies' Seminary of Benicia. Acquired from Mary Atkins by Cyrus and Susan Mills in 1865. It was moved to its present site in Oakland in 1871 and chartered as a college by the State of California in 1885.


To Remember
The pioneers who believed in education and supported it :
The teachers who dedicated themselves to learning and nourished it :
The students who came for knowledge and grew to citizenship in the early capital of California
MILLS COLLEGE
Founded in Benicia 1852
Erected by Benicia Old Timers Committee
AD1937

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

American River 50

On Saturday, April 14, I am going to run the American River 50. Starting near Cal Expo, the course winds fifty miles up the American River Parkway, along Folsom Lake, up the North Fork of the American River and finishes at the Auburn Dam Overlook.

I have been targeting the AR50 as a goal for more than 2 1/2 years. Including the birthday party, a photo album and the yet unfinished soundtrack, it is part of my effort to celebrate 50 years on this earth.

Unless something goes horribly wrong, I also intend to post a picture with the mileage and the pace to my weblog at least every hour during the run. If you are so inclined, you can check the weblog and follow my progress over the course of the long, long day.

Sharon and Jack are planning to meet me at Nimbus Dam Overlook about 9:30 a.m., at Beals Point about 11:00 a.m. and at Granite Bay some time between 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Probably the only stop that I will do more than walk through the stop is Granite Bay. Larkin is planning to join me at Granite Bay and cover the last 18 plus miles with me. As long as I am ahead of the pace for the cut-off time, I will probably spent 5 minutes at Granite Bay.

Sharon and Jack are also planning to meet Larkin and I at Rattlesnake Bar and at the end of the run at the Auburn Dam Outlook. I have no idea what kind of pace I will carry over the last part of the run, but very rough estimates of my times at Rattlesnake Bar and the Finish are 2:30 p.m. and 4:50 p.m.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Song for 1987

You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' was a 1965 number-one hit single by The Righteous Brothers. The song become popular again in 1987 when it was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Top Gun.

In early 1988, We had a bachelor party for Nooter in Mexico. I have a video loop in my head of Hunter and Chabrier wandering down the beach at Mazatlan singing You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'.

The Song for 1987 is You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

2007 Kings versus Rockets

Sharon, Jack and I went to the Sacramento Kings versus Houston Rockets Basketball game. I bought an extra ticket down low behind the visitors bench. The Kings had the lead for much of the game. Rockets went on an 11-2 run to go ahead 100-91 with 4:42 remaining and never gave up the lead to win the game by a score of 112 to 106.

The loss put the Kings very close to being eliminated from the play-offs. A Los Angeles Clippers victory tonight at Dallas or a Kings loss Tuesday at Memphis brings the official end.

McGrady was amazing; he had 40 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Rockets. Nevertheless, I was mesmerized by Yao Ming. Up close, he dwarfs everyone on the floor. It is hard for me to wrap my brain around how big he is.

Lastly, Musselman must go...



Easter 2007

After attending Mass at Good Shepherd, we had Easter dinner with Tim, Kathy, Eileen and Sharon's mom Rosemary at her mom's house. Tom, Becky, Erin and Eric are in the Northwest visiting Kevin and checking out some colleges for Erin.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

2007 Baseball Game #3

Jack played in his third game of the 2007 baseball season. His team played against the A's. Jack pitched the first two innings and played shortstop the last two innings. At the plate, he walked twice, struck out and had a single into left center.

His team won by the score of 27 to 13. Their record is now 2 wins and 1 loss.

Friday, April 06, 2007

2007 Kings versus Jazz

Jack and I went to the Sacramento Kings versus Utah Jazz Basketball game. Behind by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, the Kings rallied to win 107 to 103. This is the most exciting game I have seen this season.

Utah started the game by making its first 10 shots. At that point, Musselman called a time-out and replaced Bibby with Price and Miller with Justin Williams. Miller never returned to the game. Mike Bibby ended up playing just four minutes in the second half and a season-low 14 minutes overall.

With little to lose, Mussleman used some odd line-ups in the second half. Corliss Williamson, Ron Artest, Ronny Price, Francisco Gracia and John Salmons got most of the minutes in the fourth quarter.

At Arco Arena

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Song for 1994

During the early 1990's, the Spin Doctors had a lot of commercial success with their album Pocket Full of Kryptonite. The album eventually sold over five million copies in the US and another five million overseas, and peaked at #3 on the Billboard top 200 album chart. Two songs from the album were widely played on the radio: Two Princes and Little Miss Can't Be Wrong.

I can remember dancing to Two Princes with "She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" at Chabrier's 40th Birthday in March of 1994.

The song for 1994 is the Spin Doctor's Two Princes.

You can find the work in progress Soundtrack for My Life here!

What is this?

April District Roundtable

I attended the monthly scout district roundtable representing Jack's cub scout pack.

Training Run Mile 3.14

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

2007 Baseball Game #2

Jack played in his second baseball game of the 2007 season. He played shortstop for three innings and catcher for one inning. Jack made a couple of nice plays in the field, including fielding a grounder and tagging the runner trying to advance from second to third.

At the plate, he went 2 for 3. He grounded out to first, singled through the pitcher up the middle and had a nice line drive over the third baseman.

The Mariners won by a score of 17 to 8. Their record is 1 win and 1 loss.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

2007 Kings versus Mavs

I went to see the Sacramento Kings versus Dallas Mavericks basketball game. Hunter was planning to go with me to the game, but he canceled on me over the weekend. After casting around a bit, I decided I would just go by myself. Leading by one point at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Kings lost by a score of 97 to 93.

Dirk Nowitzki missed the game; he was recuperating from food poisoning in a Sacramento hotel. I was disappointed not to see Nowitzki play.

The Kings have dropped 11 of their last 13 games, and their chances of landing the top pick in the June draft are higher than their odds of making the playoffs. They have the NBA's ninth-worst record. If the draft lottery balls were dropped today, they would have a 1.7 percent chance of picking first.

I am convinced that the Kings need to make a coaching change in the offseason.

Local Bands Rock for Darfur

Local Bands Rock for Darfur - New University Online
Next up was Andrew Heringer, who provided a complete change of pace as he strummed through a few catchy, folksy acoustic guitar songs with djembe accompaniment. The fact that “djembe” is spelled with a “d” was a fun fact audience members learned during Heringer’s performance.

Heringer was a great singer, with vocals that fans of Counting Crows will probably appreciate. His easygoing, witty songs provided a nice contrast to the other harder-rocking bands.

Lyrics like “We’re needing this road-trip to remind us we’re alive” and “Won’t you let me introduce myself? I’m the one who draws the circles” provided a light-hearted cynicism that fit the music perfectly.

Monday, April 02, 2007

CA Historical Landmark #175

Site of First Protestant Church
California State Historical Landmark #175

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This landmark is located in Benicia City Park on K Street between 1st and 2nd Streets in Solano County in Benicia, California. There are 13 other California State Historical Landmarks in Solano County. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 38° 03.212 W 122° 09.428.

You can log your visit to this landmark at waymark.com.




On April 15, 1849, the Reverend Sylvester Woodbridge, Jr., organized the first Presbyterian Church of Benicia, the first Protestant church established in California with an ordained resident pastor. The church was disbanded in 1875.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Petra

Running on the treadmill, I watched a Digging for the Truth episode about Petra. I am going to add this site to my visit of places that I would like to visit some day!

A very busy March

It has been a very busy March. Between trips to Spring Training and the USS Hornet, indoor soccer games and select soccer try-outs, Cub Scout den and pack meetings, baseball practice and games, St. Patrick's Day, a Service Award Banquet, the Sweetwater Hike and an Academy Awards Party, today was the first weekend day that we did not have anything planned in more than six weeks. We took the opportunity to go to church for Palm Sunday. While I ran some errands and puttered in the yard, Sharon went for a long bike run along the American River Bike Trail.