Odds 'n Ends

Much of the first part of the week spent catching up with old DC mate and keyboardist Gregg Karukas & his better half, in town to gig with Smooth Jazz All-Stars guitarist Peter White & sax-man Michael Paulo. A near capacity crowd packed the McCoy Studio Theater last sunday evening and were treated to an evening of stellar musicianship. And while I generally prefer my jazz to be quite a bit more angular and oblique, it's always fun to watch Gregg perform. Hanging around for sound-check and then backstage before and after the show I got to meet all of the artists and chin-wag ad-nauseum about the trials of the road, how to deal with Facebook friends & fans, the jazz scene in Jakarta, Indonesia... Bassist Dwayne "Smitty" Smith, it turns out, is also a DC refugee and we compared notes on the scene, mutual friends, favorite clubs & venues...

Gregg @ Sound-Check

Michael & Peter

Peter & Gregg

Peter

Dwayne "Smitty" Smith

The arrival of Chester earlier in the week has helped keep the excitement pace up on the home front. Sleeping through the entire night last night meant the missus & I finally got a decent night's rest. Puppy poop & piddle, I am happy to report, is now entirely confined to a couple of strategically placed & ridiculously overpriced pads made just for such purposes. Spare no expense when attempting the save relatively new bamboo floors & rugs, I suppose.

Proposals completed & submitted for a new restaurant project on Oahu on monday, stylist is standing by... still waiting for the word. Let's hope the word is GO!

Wednesday evening brought an interview to be included in an artist in residence program at one of the major south shore resort hotels.  Again, awaiting the good word as this could be a great opportunity to show & sell personal work with the rapid approach of the winter holiday season. Now, to just find some work that might match someone's sofa!

Meet Chester

Ever since the sudden & unplanned exit of the Maxster, the feral chickens from the pasture next door have decided that they can now travel where they wish with impunity. They're in the garden... on the lanai... in the driveway. They eat the freshly fallen avocados before I can gather them. Now I've caught them jumping high in the air to attack the ripening stalks of bananas.


Bastards! 


Something had to be done.


Enter Chester, six & a half week old, blue-merle australian shepherd. In a few weeks, he should be just the thing to keep that noisy flock at bay.