Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush at the Cleveland House of Blues on Friday (July 27, 2007) was a great show. I've known of Marino for years, and have a few of his recordings, but I did not know what to expect for the live show. I went with my old friend Nick and we got some last minute, slightly-obstructed-view balcony seats. The balcony at the HOB has outstanding sound (although I otherwise despise the venue because of the tax abatements they were given - that was unnecessary, other local venues got nothing).
My thought was that just one Marino's virtuoso guitar solos would make it worthwhile. What we got was 2 hours and 47 minutes of guitar solos (and we left before it was over). That was only 8 songs (sort of a medley thrown in there) for 2:47. The last song was 47 minutes when we left. It was a great sounding show, and Schoolboy made a very nice recording on his H120 Rockbox.
"Zappacaine" - That's what I think Schoolboy should call the recording of the Zappa show at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights last night (July 28, 2007). A number of friends and acquaintances were part of the packed house in attendance at this lovely outdoor venue. I love coming to Cain Park and Schoolboy got a better than expected recording.
The Zappa band we saw ran though mostly different material than the Zappa Plays Zappa we saw in Canton last winter. The Frank Zappa video duets were extremely well done and well received by this very discerning crowd. This was also a long show (about 2 1/2 hours), but not as mentally challenging as the Zappa show we saw in Canton, and in contrast to Mahogany Rush, was FAR more varied and interesting.
The Fairport Harbor Lighthouse Triathlon was this morning (July 29, 2007). I have run this one many times, seemingly, always with the same result. I did it in 1:31:16, which is about what it has taken me every time. I had some cramps and had to get off the bike (in the same place as last year), and I had some cramps early in the run. Otherwise, it went fine. I was pretty tired afterwards. My co-worker, Mona (the Ringer) Lombardi and her friend Debbie were there. Mona said she was going to speed walk the run, and ended up running the whole thing. She beat me by a few seconds, but she never caught up with the ten minute head start (staggered start), as I thought might happen. I think she beat Debbie too, and that wasn't supposed to happen. We won't invite her next time! :-)
(click on slideshow to see bigger versions)
It was a good time and the weather, water, and conditions in general were beautiful. The water inside the breakwall was surprisingly warm and clean (I would guess 78+/- degrees). Afterwards I snoozed in the sun for a half hour before resuming our quest:
Nautical Blue Scion tC - We decided to buy a new Scion to replace the '99 Sentra SE Limited Matt is taking off to Purdue. The tC has the right combination of performance, comfort, do-dads, and coolness (it's cooler than it is good looking - more cute that beautiful). We had been on a quest to see certain colors, so we could pick. Pictures won't do - you have to see a car. The dealer close to home hadn't really done very well in that regard. We were wanting to see "flint mica" and "nautical blue" (we liked the black they had too). I called around to a bunch of the Cleveland area Scion dealers and on the 5th one found some of these in stock. So we putzed about 25 miles over to a place in Bedford. They had a new 2007 that had a ton of stuff on it, including the radio and safety equipment that became standard on the 2008's, and the spoiler we like. It also had a $1000 ground effects kit and a $449 sub woofer (that sounds terrible) -
neither of which were things we would have bought. He offered us a really good deal (a good $1k off), but it's still $600 more than an '08 without the unnecessary stuff. I'm leaning towards passing and just getting an '08. We really like the new head and tail lights they have too.
Nautical Blue Scion tC - We decided to buy a new Scion to replace the '99 Sentra SE Limited Matt is taking off to Purdue. The tC has the right combination of performance, comfort, do-dads, and coolness (it's cooler than it is good looking - more cute that beautiful). We had been on a quest to see certain colors, so we could pick. Pictures won't do - you have to see a car. The dealer close to home hadn't really done very well in that regard. We were wanting to see "flint mica" and "nautical blue" (we liked the black they had too). I called around to a bunch of the Cleveland area Scion dealers and on the 5th one found some of these in stock. So we putzed about 25 miles over to a place in Bedford. They had a new 2007 that had a ton of stuff on it, including the radio and safety equipment that became standard on the 2008's, and the spoiler we like. It also had a $1000 ground effects kit and a $449 sub woofer (that sounds terrible) -
neither of which were things we would have bought. He offered us a really good deal (a good $1k off), but it's still $600 more than an '08 without the unnecessary stuff. I'm leaning towards passing and just getting an '08. We really like the new head and tail lights they have too. Bob Klass
July 29, 2007
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