What's New?
February 4, 2012
I just finished reading Jerry Garcia's
biography written by Blair Jackson. What an incredible and monumental
chronicling of Jerry's life. I loved it!
February 1, 2012
Today's adventure was a drive to the San
Fernando Valley to see Judy's old stomping ground. We drove all around
Northridge, CA so I could get an idea of where she grew up. Here she is in
front of her former home at 8735 Oak Park Avenue.
Judy and her family moved into this home
when it was brand new in 1953. It's currently appraised on Zillow for
$601,000, which is a significant increase over its original purchase price of
$26,000.
After lunch we headed south on the 405 and got off at Mulholland Drive.
Unfortunately it pretty hazy (smoggy) today, so the pictures I took really don't
show the beautiful vistas that these residents have. That's okay, we'll be
back another time. While on Mulholland, we drove past the house of Don
Cornelius, the creator of Soul Train, who had just committed
suicide this morning. The scene was loaded with satellite trucks from all
the local news stations as well as the many police units investigating the
scene. Otherwise, it was a very nice day and we both enjoyed seeing
Northridge.
January 19, 2012
Today's adventure brought us back to the
Mission Inn in
Riverside, for, what turned out to be, a two hour private tour of the hotel.
The Mission Inn occupies a full city block in downtown Riverside. The
highlight of the tour was our private viewing of the Saint Francis of Assisi
Chapel, featuring an elegant beamed ceiling, ornate Mexican Mahogany
wooden doors, the 18-karat gold leaf Rayas Altar and seven Tiffany stain-glass
windows.
January 11, 2012
Yesterday we went to the LACMA to see,
among other things, the current installation of
California mid-century modern design. The exhibit is quite large and
extremely interesting, especially the relocated and reassembled
Charles and Ray Eames' living room.
January 3, 2012
I almost typed "July 3rd" since the
weather out here feels like it should be that time of year. We've had
highs of 86° the last few days. What a way to start
the year!
December 29, 2011
Well, Mary Tyler Moore, Jon Voight,
Marianne Faithfull, Ted Danson and I were all celebrating today, separately of
course. While we all share the same birthday, at least I'm the youngest
one of the group. Judy treated me to the latest Spielberg film,
The War Horse,
followed by lunch at Dhat
Island. The movie had a good story line, but it was predictable,
Disney-like and overly long. Too bad. We're still digesting our
Caribbean-Creole lunch.
December 24, 2011
For Christmas Eve we had lunch at the
Mission Inn in Riverside.
We sat inside, although outdoor dining was also available. It's a
beautiful place and the Inn has six restaurants within its one city block
footprint. We couldn't believe how crowded it was. The food was very
good, but it was a little bit on the expensive side. We had planned to eat
lunch and then take pictures of the Inn all decorated with its Christmas
arrangements but the sun was still up so we headed back home. It was about
75° yesterday and we're expecting it to hit 80° here on
Christmas Day.
December 20, 2011
It's been cool in Redlands lately.
Night time temperatures in the mid thirties and day time temperatures in the mid
sixties. This week end should warm up and we'll enjoy some seventy degree
temperatures again.
December 10, 2011
It's been a pretty nice day here today.
I was up early taking pictures of the
total lunar eclipse, then did some yard work and then off to lunch.
Judy is down in Forth Worth, TX, visiting her dear friend Maxine, and she'll be
back tomorrow. Whenever she used to go away, she always worried about me
cooking for myself. Now she has no worries! Whenever she goes away,
I eat at any of the best restaurants I like and, I don't care what I spend!
Today it was
La Costa Mariscos for their fantastic tequila-lime shrimp.
December 1, 2011
December has blown in at hurricane force.
Recorded wind speeds in Ventura County reached 97 mph this morning and it has
been gusting to about 55-65 mph here in Redlands today. Things should calm
down by tomorrow afternoon.
November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving! I just finished
an excellent book written by
Farley Mowat about Dian Fossey. I had never read anything by Mr. Mowat
previously, but I have subsequently found that he is revered as one of Canada's
finest conservationists and authors. I highly recommend his Woman in
the Mists.
November 16, 2011
Yesterday I finished reading Bob Fosse's
biography and I was stunned by
this book. I guess I was busy with other things in 1973 when Fosse was
awarded an Oscar for Cabaret, a Tony for Pippin and an Emmy for
Liza with a Z. He still is the only person to win all three honors in
a single year and the only person who has received these honors, all in the
"Best Director" category. Wow!
November 9, 2011
Today we drove to Palm Springs to hike the
Tahquitz Canyon. Can you imagine seeing a 60' waterfall in the middle of
the desert? Look here to see what it's like.
November 4, 2011
It's a rainy day in Redlands, which is
perfect
for reading a good book.
October 23, 2011
I just finished a
biography of Ian Fleming yesterday, what an
interesting man he was. The book was written extremely well by John
Pearson.
October 18, 2011
We had a real treat for ourselves today,
we went to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, CA to see a special exhibit on loan
from China called "Warriors Tombs and Temples: China's Enduring Legacy."
For pictures, click here.
October 16, 2011
Today I finished my 100th biography after
starting sometime in mid-February 2010. I'm reading a little bit more than
a book a week, although since I started, I'm now reading more lengthy volumes
and less of some of the earlier "fluff" biographies that are on my
reading list.
October 10, 2011
We had a small swarm of
earthquakes last night, which we couldn't feel.
October 8, 2011
Today we had a great adventure riding to
the top of Mount Baldy on their chair lift. However, it was certainly
chilly at 34º. For pictures, click
here.
October 7, 2011
Judy and I had an unexpected culinary
treat for lunch today; bratwurst and sauerkraut. It all started as we were
watching California's Gold
a couple of nights ago. Huell's guests were the
Krüegermann
family of Los Angeles, who operate a family business selling pickles and
sauerkraut. We wanted to try the sauerkraut but I had no luck finding any
in Redlands. However, I did find a German restaurant and deli called
Gozzolo's in San
Bernardino. We went to the store yesterday and picked up some pork
bratwurst, the Krüegermann sauerkraut as well as
some Krüegermann red cabbage and apple mixture.
We grilled the bratwurst and had the sauerkraut and red cabbage/apples on the
side. Delicious, and who knew we'd swoon over the German fare!
October 6, 2011
I went out equipped with a 100 foot
measuring tape today and, with Judy's help, attempted to determine where the
property line is located between ourselves and our neighbor. To make a
long story short, we found that the property lines separating properties are
indicated and have been etched into the sidewalk when the sidewalk was
originally installed. Judy and I walked our side of Buena Vista Street and
noted a "V" etched into the sidewalk delineating each lot as laid out in the
original subdivision plan. This makes it a lot easier (and cheaper) than
had we hired a surveyor to find the corners of our property.
October 5, 2011
We expect to make some changes soon in our
front yard. Our next door neighbor is going "southwest" with her
landscaping plan. This means she's going to rip out her lawn and replace
it with decomposed granite and drought tolerant plants. Since part of our front yard
abuts her existing lawn area, we are going to (collectively) locate the property
line and we'll brick that area from the line to our driveway. It will tie
in with our existing brick work out front and should look pretty good when
completed. I'll keep you posted on the progress.
October 1, 2011
Judy is returning home after her four days
in Grass Valley. She didn't get rich at the Boomtown Casino yesterday, but
she had a good time and purged herself of the desire to gamble. Today was
my last day of eating out and I went back to
La Costa Mariscos for the occasion. Today's selection was "Camarones
al Mojo de Ajo," which in English is Shrimp in a garlic sauce. There was
also quite a bit of chili peppers thrown in and it was delicious! After
four days of eating out it will be nice to get back to our normal routine.
September 30, 2011
It was another busy day today. I
gave the new stucco section of the front porch a coat of primer and I'll give it
the finish coat tomorrow. Someone from the Social Security office here in
Redlands contacted me about various questions they had and now they're computing
my benefit factoring in my pension from the city of Worcester. This is a
lingering curse from Ronald Reagan who enacted legislation prohibiting
"double dip" pensions for state and local government employees. Not that
much that I can do about it, so I'll wait and see what their determination is.
I went back to Isabella's for lunch and enjoyed their cream of broccoli soup as
my appetizer. The main course was their "Mignonette al Vino Rosso," which
is medallions of filet mignon cooked in a red wine and mushroom sauce. It
was wonderful! I had a coffee at Augie's, came back and mowed the lawn and
then jumped into the pool. Judy's at the Boomtown Casino today, so maybe
I'll hear some good news about her luck there.
September 29, 2011
Today ending up being fairly busy.
After doing my usual yard clean up and watering, I made a batch of gazpacho for
my evening meals the next few days. Shortly afterward, our painter, Jesus
Lopez, showed up and repaired all of the bubbling stucco on our front porch.
Tomorrow I'll prime it and Saturday I'll paint it our "house yellow."
While Jesus was working, I started (and completed) my online application for
Social Security retirement benefits. It was a very easy web site to
navigate (finally the government did something right). Then it was time
for lunch and today I walked over to
La Costa Mariscos to enjoy their Mexican seafood. The English
translation of their Spanish name is "The Seafood Coast." Chips and salsa
started it out, followed by my entree of grilled shrimp in a tequila and lime
juice sauce. The side dishes were: rice, garden salad, black beans
and corn tortillas. A bottle of Dos Equis beer served to balance out some
of the fire from the chilies. After lunch I went to
Augie's Coffee House
and came back home for a swim.
September 28, 2011
After a mechanical problem, Judy had her
flight cancelled and she has just arrived in Sacramento, about three hours later than she had planned.
I've had to fend for myself, meal-wise, so I went to
Isabella's Ristorante Italiano for lunch. The soup today was a
delicious cream of cauliflower and I had the "Vitello Bergamo" for my entree.
The Bergamo is veal medallions sautéed with asparagus and mushrooms in a creamy
tomato wine sauce. The wine was
Alteo Chianti DOCG, from Siena. I'll be suffering through these food
choices through Saturday.
September 27, 2011
Today is the one year anniversary of my
surfing adventure at Bolsa Chica State
Beach. Yesterday I finished my
98th biography, and that one was
of Fellini. After reading Fellini's and Francis Ford Coppola's
biographies, I have a much more informed opinion of the movie industry and how
it really is behind the camera. Being owned and controlled by large
corporations, I previously had never thought of how chaotic and disorganized it
usually is. Well tomorrow Judy's off to see her sister Beverly up in Grass
Valley, CA. Of course they're planning their usual day trip to the
Boomtown
Casino in Reno, NV.
September 22, 2011
"Life" is oftentimes dealing with the
cards that have been dealt to you, and trying to come up with a good plan in
spite of the original "bad hand." When our Mimosa tree came down it was
quite a shock for us since our back yard faces west. The heat and glare of
the afternoon sun was like a death ray. Now, thanks to Mario from
Screenmobile, we have re-screened the screen porch, kitchen and bedroom
windows with Screenmobile's solar screens. These screens block 90% of the
sun's heat and light and have successfully replicated the shade that we formerly
enjoyed. In order to have some green to look at, we've decided to plant a
Valencia orange tree in the back yard. It will make for a pleasant view
and, we'll get to have our own oranges! Unfortunately, orange trees are
planted in the spring, so we'll have to wait for 2012 to see one there.
But it's always nice to have something good to look forward to.
September 16, 2011
We were back on Catalina Island on the
14th to celebrate Judy's birthday to see the things we missed on our first trip,
pictures are located here. We
took the walking tour of the Casino building, which is just amazing. The
ceiling in the entrance lobby still has its original paint and is complemented
with both gold and sterling silver leaf. The theater is beautifully
painted and the acoustics are perfect. Radio City Music Hall in New York
patterned their acoustical design on this theater. The man responsible for
all of the artwork in the building previously had done Grauman's Chinese Theater
in Hollywood. The ballroom, which is round like the building, originally
was a full 15,000 square feet which has been reduced to 10,000 square feet to
accommodate kitchen and catering functions of the present day. The
facility now can be rented for weddings and other functions. In its
heyday, the ballroom had a maximum attendance of 6,000 dancing enthusiasts.
The floor level of the ballroom is at a height comparable to that of a ten-story
building, but there aren't any elevators to service the patrons. Since the
owner, Mr. Wrigley, also owned the Chicago Cubs, he built two sets of
stadium-type ramps for entrance and exit of the ballroom. We, along with
the 32 other people on the tour, effortlessly walked up the ramps from the
ground floor to the ballroom. It really is quite a place. I almost
forgot to mention that the theater's ceiling has dozens of gold leaf stars that
have twinkling lights that operate while watching the film, it's beautiful!
September 14, 2011
Our day started out with a jolt, or I
should say a shake. There was an earthquake having a magnitude of 4.1 in
Beaumont at 7:44 AM. Beaumont is about 10 miles from us.
September 9 ,2011
The Mimosa is gone; it only took Danny's
Tree Service two hours to cut it down and clean up the debris. It's
different, but we're looking forward to creating a new look for our back yard.
September 8, 2011
We had two tree service companies over to
look at the Mimosa yesterday, and the diagnosis wasn't good. The trunk is
rotted out and it has to be removed, and it will come down tomorrow. I
took this picture this morning and you can see how we lost its shading canopy on
the right side of its trunk. We're going to leave the stump as a
remembrance rather than grinding it down.
September 6, 2011
We had some excitement in the early
morning hours today. Our much loved Mimosa tree lost a large limb about
3:00 AM. It was very loud and scared all of us, especially Dante and Bello
who were lounging on the screen porch. There are two pictures below from
June 30, 2011 showing the tree in all of its glory. It's now cleaned up,
but we've lost shade in half of our back yard. What a shame.
August 29, 2011
From temperature records monitored by the
Redland Daily Facts,
it appears that Saturday, August 27, 2011, was 110º here in
Redlands. That's the highest temperature we've seen since coming
here in June 2009.
August 28, 2011
Today we enjoyed a great brunch at the
Cafe Sevilla in downtown Riverside. The majority of the offerings were
a mix of Spanish cuisine, Tapas tastings and seafood, in addition to the more
traditional brunch items. The decor was impressive in this beautifully
restored building right down the street from the
Mission Inn.
August 24, 2011
The GRAMMY Museum has posted some pictures
taken during Tyler Bates' interview and performance on August 15th, which is
linked
here.
August 16, 2011
Last night we were at
L.A. Live in downtown Los
Angeles to attend "Reel to Reel: An Evening with
Tyler Bates" that was
held at the
GRAMMY Museum. Tyler did a great job during the two-hour program,
which was sold out.
Tyler's latest film score is for
Conan the
Barbarian 3D, which will be opening on Friday, August 19th. The GRAMMY
Museum's program announcement
for last night's show is
shown below.
Monday, August 15, 2011; 8:00pm
With
more than 49 films and 17 years scoring movies, film composer Tyler Bates is at
the forefront of innovation in film music. From the early stages in his career
composing low-budget films, to creating music for movies like Zack Snyder's
battle epic 300, which embodies orchestral and choral themes with a
rock n' roll attitude to the new Warner Bros. soundtrack for Conan The
Barbarian, which will be released on August 16, Bates continuously provides
ambient electronic textures, intoxicating vocal melodies and driving hypnotic
rhythms. His work has appeared in countless movies and television shows; The
Day the Earth Stood Still, Showtime's hit series Californication,
Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, Slither and The
Devil's Rejects. He's also composed for numerous videogames such as
Army of Two: The 40th Day, Activision's Transformers, and the
300 and Watchmen games. Currently, Bates is generating some of the
most exceptional scores, consistently finding fresh ways to unite the emotional
with the abstract and the organic with the electronic. Bates will engage in a
discussion with the GRAMMY Museum's Executive Director Bob Santelli regarding
his career and the process of writing pieces for films. Along with the
discussion, he will take questions from the audience and instruct a live
composing demonstration.
August 14, 2011
On Friday, August 12, 2011, we witnessed
the wedding of Jennifer Johnson and Paul Komadina down in San Diego.
Jennifer is the daughter of Jeff and Angie Johnson, who is a former flight
attendant and dear friend of Judy's. The reception was held at the
Ultimate Sky Box, overlooking Petco Field in downtown San Diego.
Congratulations to Jennifer and Paul!
August 8, 2011
I just finished Walter Isaacson's
biography of Albert Einstein, it
was one of those books that you don't want to end. It was fascinating,
pleasurable and understandable, which is quite a feat considering the depths
Walter had to scale to convey the mind of this genius. I loved it!
Coincidentally, it was just one month ago
that Judy and I walked across the same bridge that Einstein did during his 1931
visit to the Mount Wilson Observatory.
August 7, 2011
We've been enjoying delightful weather
here recently with temperatures in the mid-nineties and low humidity.
We've also been busy with a few projects around the house. There were
three Italian cypress trees growing next to the garage and they were all causing
some damage to the shingles of its roof and the flashing. If we didn't do
something soon, the trees were going to cause some damage to the structure.
So, out they came and a roofer came in and mended the three areas that were
affected. I had to repaint that wall and Judy replanted the Red Apple that
was destroyed in the tree removal operation. We also had some problems
with the central vacuum motor that burned out. It was replaced once, but
the replacement motor also failed. After waiting about three weeks, we now
have a third motor that appears to be working just fine. Let's hope that
continues!
July 27, 2011
Yesterday we visited the grounds of the
Mount Wilson Observatory in the Angeles National Forest. It's quite a
place and we may return during a weekend when docents conduct tours of the
facilities. To see some pictures, click here.
We drove the entire length of the Angeles Crest Highway from west to east and
were able to see impact of the 2009 Station Fire, two years after its
occurrence. Many of the large trees are still standing, but dead and
blackened. However, in total, the area is now fairly green and the drive
was beautiful.
July 19, 2011
A small milestone in my
reading list today, I'm
up to the letter "E" and I've finished my 90th biography.
July 14, 2011
I just finished reading a biography of
Isadora Duncan, written by Peter Kurth and titled Isadora: A Sensational
Life. It is a wonderful story about this early twentieth century
dancer, which is full of the glamour and the tragedy that was her life. I
strongly recommend it to all.
July 8, 2011
Yesterday we visited the Getty Villa near
Malibu, CA, right off the Pacific Coast Highway. The Villa is modeled on
the Villa of the Papyri (Villa dei Papiri), which is a private house in the
ancient Roman city of Herculaneum. The Italian residence sits halfway up the
slope of the volcano Vesuvius without other buildings to obstruct the view. In
AD 79, the eruption of Vesuvius covered all of Herculaneum with some 30 m of
volcanic ash. Its remains were first excavated in the years between 1750 and
1765 by Karl Weber by means of underground tunnels. Its name derives from the
discovery of a library in the house containing 1,785 carbonized papyrus scrolls. It was a great day except
for the traffic on the Santa Monica freeway between that city and LA. It
was horrendous both coming and going. For pictures, click
here.
July 4, 2011
It's hot! Our temperature in
Redlands has been hovering around 104° for the past three
days and it will probably be the same tomorrow. It's possible that we may
have a thunderstorm this afternoon. I just finished a book about Alfred
Dreyfus written by his son and it included some of Alfred Dreyfus' memoirs.
It was a good read, which surprised me in that its publication date was in 1937,
two years after Alfred Dreyfus died. This brings me to number 88 on my
biography reading list.
June 30, 2011
We went to Catalina Island last week, and
I neglected to mention it in the Blog. For pictures, please click
here.
Our mimosa tree is currently in full bloom
and is spectacular!
June 12, 2011
Judy and I took a short ride over to the
old Norton Air Force Base this morning in pursuit of the elusive Boeing 747-B.
Since its decommissioning in 1994, the airport is now known as the San
Bernardino International Airport, however, there are no commercial flights into
or out of the airport, it's sad. Boeing is using the airport for testing
of the 747-B (the new cargo version of the 747), the new 737-900 and the new 787
Dreamliner. Sure enough, as we drove around we spotted a crew working on
the 787. Some of the hangers at this airport are immense!
When we returned home, I found out through
Flight Aware
that the 747-B is now at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX.
Hopefully, when it returns to San Bernardino, I'll be able to get a picture of
it.
June 10, 2011
We've had a thick "marine layer" here for
the past few days, so I've been unable to get a picture of the 747, although
I've heard it fly over several times. It has been reported that the
testing at the San Bernardino Airport will continue through the end of June, so
I still have a chance for a snapshot as it flies overhead. I also found
out that the 747-8 that is being tested here is the cargo version, not the
intercontinental passenger version. And, my first sighting was correct, it
has "747 B" painted on its belly.
June 7, 2011
For the last three days I've heard and
seen a large airplane pass overhead, which is unusual in that we're not in the
flight path of any commercial airliners. The plane was flying at a fairly
low altitude and I could read, what I thought said, "747 B" on the belly of the
plane. After some investigation on the Internet, I found that Boeing has
been recently been testing its new 747-8 out of the San Bernardino Airport,
which is located just next to Redlands. I plan to have my camera ready
today in the event it passes overhead again. Boeing's web site states that
it plans to ship the new planes to its customers in a few months. The
Boeing 747-8 web site is available
here.
May 29, 2011
Today we enjoyed a champagne brunch aboard
the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. We were lucky to get a Groupon
two-for-one deal. The Queen Mary staff were great and the champagne,
fresh-squeezed orange juice and coffee cups were never empty. To see the
pictures, click here.
May 20, 2011
We made the front page of the Daily Facts
today, above the fold, no less. Click
here to see
it.
My sister Nancy visited us this week,
which was her first trip to California. We took in the sites in and around
Los Angeles (Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Boulevard, the Griffith
Observatory, the Hollywood sign and the beach in Santa Monica). We also
walked and drove around Redlands and ate very well during her four day stay.
Unfortunately, the Southern California weather wasn't cooperating for us, we had
some rain, clouds, fog and wintry temperatures (55-65°). For a couple of recent pictures of Nance, click here and
go to the bottom of the page.
May 6, 2011
Yesterday we visited the Huntington
Library for a second time after realizing that we had not seen many of the
gardens on our first visit. If you plan to visit Los Angeles, going to the
Huntington Library should be a top priority of the places to see here. To
view yesterday's pictures, click here.
April 21, 2011
I just finished reading The Last Trials
of Clarence Darrow, written by Donald McRae in 2009. It was riveting,
I couldn't put it down. The was number 79 on my
reading list.
April 17, 2011
It's been beautiful here yesterday and
today. Yesterday was 95° so I jumped into the pool
for first time this season. The pool water was 68°. Today is a
little cooler, somewhere in the 85-87° range.
April 12, 2011
It's taken me over a year to finally reach
the fourth letter of the alphabet, "D." The biography was that of Salvador
Dalí, which was an interesting read. The creative
genius of the 1920's and 1930's unfortunately turned into a comic book character
in his later years, passing away on January 23, 1989. This makes number 77
on my reading list, which is shown here.
March 27, 2011
This past week the A. K. Smiley Public
Library held its semiannual book sale and we were there on opening day.
The event was written up in the Redlands Daily Facts and of course Judy
got all of the ink, lucky her! I was mentioned too, but the mention was
"her husband." Things have changed since I used to get all of the ink in
the Worcester Telegram. To see a copy of the article, click
here.
March 20, 2011
Spring officially begins in a few hours
and we just had a small tremor shortly after midnight. For a full history
of our recent earthquakes, click here.
March 4, 2011
We were blown away by the Huntington
Library yesterday, what a place! For some pictures, click
here and for a description of some of their rare
books, click
here.
February 24, 2011
Winter continues in Redlands. High
temperatures in the fifties are projected for the next four days and a high of
only 44° forecast for Saturday. Further increasing
the bad news, rain is forecast from Friday through Sunday. There goes our
afternoon walks!
February 22, 2011
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed
the similarity between Lady Gaga's "I Was Born This Way" to Madonna's "Express
Yourself?"
February 21, 2011
We spent the day in Indio, CA today at the
Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival. Although we knew about
date shakes, but had never tried one, today was the day. We were a little
disappointed because it tasted like a vanilla milkshake and not like dates and,
it was so rich, we both had a bit of trouble settling our stomachs afterward.
In any event, the fair was fun and you can click here
to see the pictures.
February 15, 2011
We enjoyed our Valentine's Day here in
Redlands with warm temperatures and sunny skies. However, winter is
finally settling in since we expect temperatures to drop to the sixties and
we'll have on and off showers over the next four days. But, it's better
than Worcester, MA whose wind chill is currently 4°.
No thanks!
February 9, 2011
We enjoyed our day at Griffith Observatory
today. For pictures, please click here.
February 5, 2011
You never know when the cacti or the
succulents are going to bloom here in Redlands. To see the colorful
display, click here.
January 26, 2011
January seems to be screaming into history
this year. I guess it's because it's been a fairly busy month for us.
We went to the Soboba Casino
yesterday and Judy was hot at the roulette wheel. We spent some of her
winnings at the
Fisherman's Market in Banning as our reward.
January 23, 2011
We took a little day trip on Thursday into
Pasadena to see the Norton Simon Museum. We weren't disappointed, it was
beautiful. The collections were more extensive than we had anticipated.
To see some of the pictures taken, click here.
January 15, 2011
We were very fortunate yesterday to see
"The King's Speech" that was shown at our nearby
Krikorian Premiere Theater. It's great to be able to walk to a theater
to take in a show. The movie is riveting, fabulously acted by its cast.
The screenplay is based on the book written by Lionel Logue's grandson who
recently uncovered his grandfather's diaries. Mr. Logue, the speech
therapist, successfully coached King George VI to overcome his stammering, aided
by the support of the King's wife, Queen Elizabeth (the future Queen Mother).
This feature rises well above, and out of reach, of the traditional formulaic
films currently being produced.
After the movie it was time to change into
shorts and tee shirts, to sit by the pool and enjoy the beautiful 80°
afternoon.
January 14, 2011
Redlands has experienced a small swarm of
earthquakes over the past three days, however, nothing serious. For the
historical record, click here.
January 10, 2011
I just finished reading Cleopatra's
biography and was somewhat disappointed in the lack of evidence of her
"supposed" seductive nature. However, she wasn't lacking in her powers of
manipulation. Cleopatra is now number 62 in my
list of biographies.
January 8, 2011
We're back after two days at the CES in
Las Vegas. For pictures of our trip, click here.
January 1, 2011
Happy New Year! It's going to be a
cold day for everyone in the Tournament of Roses Parade today and it's generally been
fairly cool here in Redlands. Judy and I have decided that our blood is
beginning to thin after eighteen months in CA. Temperatures in the high
fifties or low sixties are now our new standard for "cool," compared to zero
degree days back east. For Christmas, we had dinner with the Haas family
down in Huntington Beach and it was a delightful event. During the day on
New Year's Eve, we drove over to Highland to see the flood devastation
first-hand, what a shame for those people in and around Old Greenspot Road.
We also saw the mountain ready to collapse onto the backs of the homes on Autumn
Chase Drive. Those homes are still under evacuation. We celebrated
New Year's Eve by having shrimp scampi and a nice bottle of 2001
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano for lunch, followed by a walk downtown for
cappuccino. It was a great way to start the new year. To see
pictures of this morning's sunrise, click here.
December 24, 2010
I just finished the Churchill biography,
which filled 912 pages, excluding the references and index section. It was
written by Roy Jenkins; himself a member of the House of Commons, Chancellor of
the Exchequer, Chancellor of the University of Oxford and also seated in the
House of Lords, amongst other distinctions. It is a fascinating
documentary, although it took me several hundred pages to adjust my reading
cadence and also acclimate myself to reading British English, versus American
English. Trips to the dictionary were frequent due to the extraordinary
command of the English language shown by Mr. Jenkins, who passed away in January
2003.
December 23, 2010
In the spirit of the holidays, I'd like to
share the following joke:
It was a holiday tradition at our house. Each year on
Christmas morning, Mom would get up extra early and prepare a special breakfast
that included eggs Benedict served on her prized heirloom dishes.
One year, though, she must have sampled the eggnog before she got
started.
When the family came downstairs and gathered around the table, we found that the
eggs Benedict breakfasts were served on the hubcaps from Dad’s car.
Dad asked, “What’s going on?”
Mom replied, giddily, “Don’t you know? There’s No Plates
Like Chrome for the Hollandaise.”
Corny I know, but any joke that will
forever corrupt the memory of a beloved Christmas standard is okay with me.
December 14, 2010
We're in downtown LA today to see the
LACMA. To our pleasant surprise, we found out that
the second Tuesday of each month is "free day." So we didn't have to pay
the $15.00 admission fee. The LACMA has over 100,000 objects and is the
largest art museum in the western United States.
December 13, 2010
We had a wonderful day yesterday visiting
Judy's cousin Mary and her husband Dick down in Palm
Desert, CA.
December 10, 2010
The server migration is now complete and
the email is working properly, thank goodness.
December 9, 2010
I'm in the middle of migrating my web site
from a server in the Boston area to a new server hosted by Network Solutions and
it is a very anxious operation for me. Stay tuned!
So far, almost all is going well, except
for a few Microsoft Front Page problems. The web is now accessible from
two URLs:
www.allardrealestate.com and
www.robertallard.com.
My normal email address, which is
allard@allardrealestate.com, is
not working since my new mailboxes haven't been created yet. In the
meantime, please feel free to contact me at
roadrunner.com.
December 2, 2010
It's a beautiful day here considering that
it's the second of December. The temperature is around 75°
with cloudless skies. There was a little shaker yesterday a couple of
miles away in Loma Linda. Its magnitude was 3.2 and Redlands had a little
after shock several hours later. Today we went back to the
Soboba Casino after I had
received some free slot play coupons in the mail. Needless to say, their
ploy worked since I "left" twenty dollars at the casino after spending their
free money. However, all was not lost since we had a great lunch at the
Fisherman's
Market & Grill in Banning. The food is always wonderful here.
When we returned we spent a couple of hours under the pergola enjoying the
bright sunshine, the L. A. Times , and the Redlands Daily Facts.
Retirement is habit forming.
November 24, 2010
I just finished Julia Child's biography,
Appetite for Life, and what a good read it was! The biography was
written in 1997, seven years before her death in 2004.
I was fortunate to have seen Julia and
Jacques Pépin perform a cooking demonstration at Harvard
University probably around 1981 or 1982. What a loveable
educator, entertainer (and comic) she was, and she is sorely missed by her fans.
Julia was a "spy" in
World War II! She worked for the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services,
which morphed into the present day CIA. She performed top secret research
and clerical
functions where she clearly demonstrated a high level of organizational skills in the
process. While in China, she loathed the regime of Chiang Kai-shek, who
was being backed by the U.S. government, Chiang was my previous
biography
before Julia's.
November 18, 2010
Apparently we had quite a swarm of
earthquakes yesterday. The So Cal Earthquake Data Center reports a total
of seven for November 17, 2010.
November 17, 2010
This morning we had an earthquake
registering a 3.2 magnitude, but, it didn't wake me up!
November 9, 2010
I've added three more pictures to
Dante and Bello's page, their birthday is Wednesday, November 10th.
November 5, 2010
I just returned after visiting my sister
Nancy in her new home in Indian Land, SC. Indian Land is about 25 miles
southeast of Charlotte, NC. Her home was just completed at the end of
September 2010 and, in a few short weeks, she's all moved in and all of her
personal interior renovations have been completed. To see a few pictures
of her home, click on the "Nance" tab above, or click here.
Yesterday we drove around (in the rain) to
see some of Charlotte's sites. We went downtown (which is called "uptown,"
very southern) by the new Mint Museum and the
NASCAR Hall of Fame. We went
into the old Mint Museum
on Randolph Road and we also toured the
Billy Graham Library. The building that houses the Mint Museum has a
fairly interesting history. Gold was discovered in North Carolina in the
late 1700's and the first branch of the United States Mint was located in this
building in uptown Charlotte. Over $5 million in gold coins
were minted here between 1836 and the outbreak of the Civil War. The
building was later moved to its present location.
It was great to see Nance after an
eighteen month separation but we're both settled into our new locations now.
October 29 2010
Yesterday was our seventeenth wedding
anniversary and we celebrated at
Isabella's Ristorante Italiano in Redlands. We both tried their Scampi
Diavolo and it was fabulous! It's great that we have such a nice
restaurant that we can walk to here in Redlands. Returning home, we
realized that when we came to vacation in California in 2008 (to see if I'd like
living here), we celebrated our anniversary at
Spago's. So this year was our third time celebrating our anniversary
in California, time flies.
We're both looking forward to our next
seventeen years together!
October 27, 2010
I've added a page for Dante and Bello. You can click
the button above, or click here to see their
pictures.
October 23, 2010
The SoCal Earthquake Data Center reported a swarm of
earthquakes here in Redlands yesterday and another one this morning. All
of them were fairly small magnitudes, ranging from 0.8 to 2.2 on the Richter
scale. For the full report, click on the "Earthquake" button above, or
click here.
October 22, 2010
Today is the 18th anniversary of my
"visit" to Judy in Grass Valley, CA. After that day, both of our lives
were permanently changed. We're looking forward to some sunshine today
after a week of clouds and sporadic rain showers. We're also anticipating
a warmer weekend and a more normal climate for Southern California. We
can't complain, the last time it rained here was back in April.
October 20, 2010
The
L. A. Times published a story in today's paper about a murder-suicide in
the small town of Crestline, where we were this past weekend. The two
principals were a woman and her nine year old grandson, that little town must be in shock.
When we were there, we had coffee at Madeline's Oceanview Cafe, which was a
great place and Madeline is certainly quite a character. Crestline sits on
top of the San Bernardino mountain range and the San Andreas fault lies at the
base on the mountain, hence, the "ocean view" in the event of a major quake that
slides Southern California into the Pacific ocean. Madeline has signs plastered
all over her restaurant, like, "My son is the inmate of the month at the County
Jail," and "Does my fat ass make my ass look fat?" She's got a million of
them to delight her customers.
October 18, 2010
Maxine is on her way back to Fort Worth today, however,
Judy and I are sorry to see her go, we had such a great weekend with her.
And a full weekend it was!
Friday we gave her a walking tour of downtown Redlands
after having lunch at Isabella's Italian Restaurant. We window shopped
along State Street, inspected the
A. K. Smiley Library and the
Lincoln Memorial Shrine,
and strolled through the
Redlands Bowl.
Saturday we took a driving tour of Redlands going to the
University of Redlands
campus and explored the mansions on Summit Avenue, Sunset Drive and Crescent
Avenue. Then we had lunch at the
Fat Greek in Yucaipa
followed by a tour of the
Kimberly Crest House and
Gardens, pictures of which are shown on the link above. What a special
place Kimberly Crest is with its period decor and furnishings.
On Sunday we drove through the fog up to the Cajon Pass on
I-15. At the summit the skies cleared so we could see the
Mormon Rocks in all of their splendor. Then we headed east to
Silverwood Lake
and had some coffee in the small mountain town of Crestline. As we
descended from Crestline's high elevation in the San Bernardino Mountains, we
saw the "marine layer" that had completely covered the cities and towns of the
Inland Empire. The summit of
Mont San Jacinto peaked through the top
of the marine layer in the distance. After some
lunch at the
Eating Room, Judy and Max went browsing through some of Redlands' antique
stores and I got to take some rest. We all had a very nice time together.
October 13, 2010
I just finished Champlain's Dream by David Hackett
Fischer and it was the best book I have read in my continuing biography
marathon. Mr. Fischer was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in history for
Washington's Crossing, which I'm looking forward to reading, once I move up
the alphabet to the W's. My great grandmother lived in Pierreville, Quebec
on the banks of the St. Lawrence river and I remember going to visit her as a
young boy with my family. Later in life, visiting
Quebec City
became almost an annual pilgrimage for me and now I'm looking forward to my next
visit. Champlain founded the colony that was to become Quebec City in
1608. His statue is on the promenade (Terrasse Dufferin) overlooking the
St. Lawrence and is adjacent to the
Chateau Frontenac.
October 12, 2010
The Earthquake Data Center downgraded the October 9th
earthquake to a 1.2 magnitude.
October 10, 2010 10-10-10
We had a 1.4 magnitude quake here yesterday at 7:55 AM
and, thankfully we felt nothing.
October 8, 2010
Well, it had to happen, the law of averages, etc.
After reading fifty biographies in which some were great, some others dry, I
never failed to complete reading the entire book until today. My failing
book was the memoirs of Edgar Cayce, entitled "My Life as a Seer." I would
have titled it "My Life as a Nut." I just couldn't read another
page, although I was up to 150 pages of it.
Now it's on
to the next biography (which is another four pound, 800 page encyclopedia), but, it has to
be better than Edgar's ramblings.
October 4, 2010
Yesterday we had a nice full day in Los Angeles.
First, we went to the
Farmers' Market where everything looked the same to Judy as it had many
decades ago. Then we had a fabulous lunch at
Tuscanova's in Century
City. Finally we visit
Tyler Bates and his
family and get a
chance to see his newly completed studio.
September 30, 2010
We had an earthquake here yesterday
morning (1.4 magnitude), but, we didn't know about it except for the USGS
report. We saw the
coiled basket exhibition at the San Bernardino County Museum and some
pictures can be accessed by the "Museum" link.
September 28, 2010
Yesterday Los Angeles broke its all-time
temperature record by reaching 113° downtown.
Redlands high yesterday was 109°. I'm still experiencing yesterday's
adrenaline rush and the resulting body aches as well. While I was able to
get up and catch three rides, all three ended with wipeouts, not dismounts.
I'm especially sore on both sides of my rib cage and on the tops of my feet.
The fiberglass long board isn't very forgiving on those body parts that aren't
used to hard bumping and abrasion. However, there aren't any regrets, I
loved every minute of it. Surfing has now been officially scratched off my
"bucket list."
September 27, 2010
It was 106° here
yesterday and it is forecasted to be about 107-108° today. So, to beat the
heat, I screwed up my courage and Judy and I drove to Huntington Beach so I
could try surfing for the first time in my life! When we got there I
luckily found an instructor for the Corky Carroll Surf School who agreed to take
me for a one hour lesson. I say luckily because the Surf School was closed
for the season. The instructor, Jordan, was at the beach for some other
reason, but, he decided to fit me in. Paddling out is really tiring and
trying to get everything covered in one hour made for an intense workout.
But, I was successful! I got up three times all together and had one
fairly long ride on my first time up. It's a pretty thrilling experience
and I'm sure I'll surf again under some more relaxing circumstances.
September 24, 2010
We decided to go into L.A. today to visit
the L.A. County Museum of Art and see the
La Brea Tar Pits, which is
right next door. We toured the Tar Pits and the associated Page Museum and
were done by 11:00 AM, however, the LACMA doesn't open until noon. So we
headed down Wilshire Boulevard and went to lunch at
Wolfgang Puck's Bistro in downtown L.A. Judy had the Pacific Fish &
Chips and I had the Spaghetti Bolognese, our two favorites here. For dessert,
it was the Molten Chocolate Cake with two espressos. A fabulous meal for
$37.00! We'll make the trip to the LACMA another day. When we got
back to Redlands the temperature was 99° and we expect
triple digits over the weekend.
September 21, 2010
I added some of Judy's pictures taken at
Gary and Alecia's wedding on September 18, 2010. To view, click the
"Gary-Alecia" button above.
September 19, 2010
I continue on my bachelor weekend while
Judy stays with her sister, Beve, and her husband Charlie, who live in Grass
Valley, CA. Beve's son Gary was married yesterday in Grass Valley,
outdoors, on a beautifully sunny and cloud-free day. Judy, Beve, Charlie
and one of their friends are going to the
Boomtown Casino
today, which is located just outside of Reno, NV.
We had planted a Bird of Paradise earlier
this spring and we now have it's first bloom. Pictures are at the "Bird"
button, located above.
September 14, 2010
For Judy's birthday, she wanted to go to
the Soboba Indian Casino and then have
lunch at the Fisherman's Market
and Grill. The casino is in San Jacinto, out in the middle of the
desert, but we're very comfortable there. We each started with $100 and
Judy got lucky at the slots, but I didn't. I was down to $15 but luckily,
I couldn't miss on the roulette wheel, I was winning on about nine of ten spins
of the wheel.
Judy unfortunately gave her winnings back so, in the end, she had $100 left and
I had $100 left. Two hours of entertainment and it costs us nothing!
The Fisherman's Market in Banning is one
of our favorite restaurants in the area. I had the steamed mussels and
Judy
had fish (and shrimp) and chips. The food was excellent, as usual.
September 12, 2010
It's a beautiful day here in Redlands.
The temperature is 93° and the skies are blue. I
finished the Andrew Carnegie biography today; 801 pages and each page went
quickly. We'll be celebrating Judy's birthday on Tuesday and she's headed
up north to Grass Valley, CA this weekend to attend her nephew Gary's wedding.
September 6, 2010
While not completely back to normal, Judy
seems to be out of the woods with her pulled muscle problem.
September 4, 2010
Judy pulled a muscle in her back on Wednesday
and she continues to suffer from it. Hopefully today the pain will finally
subside. I'm looking forward to a "fluff" biography, on the same level of
Yogi Berra or Valerie Bertinelli. I just finished Caravaggio yesterday and
that was 500 pages. The one I'm reading now is 800 pages!
September 2, 2010
I've added a page that will follow
earthquakes centered in Redlands, which can be accessed by the tab shown above.
August 30, 2010
If you noticed, this will confirm that my
Telegram screen name is I_love_LA.
August 27, 2010
George Cohen has asked what books on the
reading list would I recommend to others. I haven't regretted reading any
of them, but a few are more enjoyable reads and do stand out. To date, I
would recommend the books on: Lucille Ball, Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
Ted Bundy, Maria Callas and Truman Capote.
August 22, 2010
Decided to take a little Sunday morning
drive since we didn't have much to do around the house. Our destination
was the mountain town of Wrightwood located north of Redlands just off the I-15
(the highway connecting L.A. and Las Vegas). We stopped at the Mormon
Rocks Fire Station to take a few pictures and then we had coffee in Wrightwood.
It's a pretty small town, laid back and not very commercial. It must be a
nice spot to just get away from it all.
We re-traced our steps but chose to return
to Redlands via Route 138 that goes through Crestline and then down the mountain
into San Bernardino. We had never heard about Silverwood Lake but found it
after passing through a wonderful stretch of narrow, windy two-lane roadway
going up into the San Bernardino Mountains. The drive went through an old
forest area so the tree canopy was thick and dark. Some of the trees had
trunks that were about 8 to 10 feet in diameter, very impressive.
Silverwood Lake was spectacular and
very big. Boats and Jet Skis everywhere! It looked like a lot of
fun.
We continued on to Crestline, which has a
post office and a few stores, but not much else. Then back down the mountain, in very fast
traffic, until we got to the 210 and then back to the Chili's in Redlands for
lunch. Pictures are posted under the "Cajon Pass" tab above.
August 19, 2010
We have a little termite infestation in our garage, so the
contractor is now to removing some dry wall and will correct the problem.
I had a good report from my doctor yesterday who told
me to keep up with my good California lifestyle. Great numbers on all of
my lab work so I no longer need the blood tests prior to seeing him.
Judy had her stitches removed from her previous
oral surgery. Also, her primary left the medical practice that we belong
to, so she's taking my doctor, Dr. Douty, as her new primary. She will see
him at the end of the month.
The latest pictures from the Mt. Rubidoux Memorial Park and
the Redlands Bowl ballet are accessed through the link shown above.
Isabella's Italian Restaurant that is referred to on that page does not have a
web site. However the menu is shown
here,
just ignore page one of the PDF since it is a coupon. The menu is shown on
pages two through five.
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