Old Oakland Beer Fest

I was in a bit of a haze last weekend - the whole not-knowing thing was a bit challenging. Even though I was fairly certain cancer wasn't in my future, I couldn't help but think about it. John was working on Saturday, so I was on my own again.

I rode Petunia in the morning. We went on trail alone - a real first in that Petunia prefers a herd. But I got her on trail and we rode out to a big apple tree where I tried finding some low hanging fruit. Apparently I wasn't the only one looking - all the apples were too high and when I grabbed the branch to shake some loose, I scared the shit out of Petunia and she demanded we return home.

I spent a couple of hours in the garden cleaning up and just as I finished Robyn and Susan gave me a call to meet them for lunch at Tamarindo. If I hadn't been rushed (they were already on their way), I would have ridden my bike down town - but instead, I showered, shaved and shined and headed down. As usual, the food was fab - EXCEPT... no dessert. the chef was out at the Pacific Brewing Company / Old Oakland Brew fest.

As I had pulled up I noticed that two or three blocks were closed off to traffic. There was a row of classic American cars lined up in a row. It was some sort of Hispanic Driving Club that showed up to show off their lean, mean, American driving machines. Beautiful!!!

As I was staring at the stage, well, specifically what appeared to be the lead singer of a band that was about to go on, I recognized a name on a amplifier stack, Charles Stella. Charles and John were in the Uptones together in the 80's. And there he was. I'm fairly certain that Charles shares the same genes as Dick Clark, or like Dick Clark, he made a pact with the devil. Charles still looks as good today as he did 25 years ago. So maybe he is a modern day Mephistopheles. Regardless, we spent a few minutes catching up, until he and his freaky bleach-blond, spikey- haired singer and a crazy ass long-legged African American dancer-woman started performing.

They sounded like a new version of The Fixx with a tad bit of scream-o tossed in to make it contemporary. If you don't know The Fixx, check 'em out, if you don't know what scream-o is - don't bother. It is what is says it is.

After a few songs I toodled back to my car, wishing I had ridden my bike. I headed home and decorated a bit for Halloween. I wanted to try to cheer myself up a bit and there's nothing cheerier than spooky bits around the house.