THE CELTIC TENORS

I had fun today playing in the Niagara Symphony tonight with the Celtic Tenors. A wonderful group of guys from Ireland, singing the top ten tenor hits of today, with the Niagara Symphony. It was a nice drive to Niagara today.. didn't mind one bit... it was just great fun... and some great singing did happen tonight.. !

A NICE SUNNY SUNDAY !

Ahhh! just lov'in it !... the sun that is... again a great day.. finally.. nice and warm.. Milo is basking in the sun on the patio... just keep coming with those summer days !!! :-)

PLAYING BEETHOVEN IN SPRING!

Yesterday, Saturday April 21, was a simply beautiful day ! Not only did I perform a great work, Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Oshawa Durham Symphony to a full house, but had the added bonus of finally enjoying Ontario spring weather. ( sunny and 25 degrees). James McDonald, that played 2/3rd horn with us, lives quite close to Oshawa in Port Perry... and in the break he invited myself, and a few other musicians from the orchestra to his GRAND house for dinner. Here we are sitting on his HUGE patio ! amazing house... what a great place to have large parties and get togethers..! I hope to visit James one day again very soon..... !

California Day 8- Last Day !

Tuesday April 10, 2007

Today is the last day.. ! Boo Hoo.. man am I stressed today, I hardly slept last night.. Having all sorts of scary thoughts about how Milo is going to handle the plane trip back to Toronto. Remembering the United Airways guy on the phone earlier in the week saying to me.. “ Oh your dog will be just fine in Cargo, rest assured you will not be receiving a PUPSICLE in Toronto ! “ We got up at 6:00am, I’m all packed and ready to go. We stopped at the local coffee shop to pick up some much needed coffee and egg sandwiches. My flight leaves at 9:30am. We arrive at the airport in time to check in.. I am very worried about Milo.. the plane is sooooo small..

( you can see Milo crate waiting to be loaded)

I said my tearful goodbyes to Brynn.. thanked her for the most wonderful vacation.. and hopefully we will see each other very soon again in the near future.. ! I had never flown in a propeller plane.. but it worked out, this plane I took San Luis Obispo, and had to transfer to a much larger aircraft in San Francisco, a 50 minute plane trip from San Luis. The plane in San Francisco was much more comfortable, especially since I decided to upgrade myself, pay a little extra, and fly 1st class the rest of the way back to Toronto. I’m glad I did !... Milo arrived in Toronto all happy to see me.. all my worries for nothing.. !! she did just fine.. ! but this will be the last time I travel with a dog.. way to much worry.. and stress for me.. that’s for sure !

California Day 7

Day 7
Monday April 9, 2007

This morning Brynn had to go out on her motorcycle to Cal Poly University to teach.

So Milo and I set out on our own in Brynn’s car and took a nice coastal ride to Morro Bay on our own. It was once again beautiful weather. Milo enjoys the sea so much.. it’s a picture perfect day once again in California.. !!

after our visit to the beach,

I drove back to Los Osos, and met Kathy, Brynn’s friend.

We went out together to the local farmers market. Wow..

just down the street from Brynn’s house, every Monday. I bought fresh oranges, and some great homemade goat cheese. Brynn certainly live in paradise ! that’s for sure…

later on that afternoon, I drove to San Luis Obispo to meet Brynn for a Japanese dinner. We had a great time, and this being out last night together, it was a great way to celebrate with this fantastic, very fresh, and healthy Japanese food.

Tomorrow I head off home once again.. back to the Great White North !.. boo.. hoo.. I sure will miss the California Weather.. the sun, the heat.. the green trees.. the amazing fresh Fruit and vegetables ! I hope to be back one day soon again ! Thanks so much Brynn.. we.. milo and I had a great , great time.. !!

California Day 6

Happy Easter !

Sunday April 8, 2007

Today I was accompanying Brynn to the local Jewish Temple, to attend a Klesmer concert that she was performing at. This was one of those situations that musicians cringe at. Having to play a concert in order to make good impressions, and lay down some critical contacts in the community.

After listening to this concert, with Mark and his sons, and Brynn’s best friend, Kathy.. I really don’t ever want to hear Klesmer music ever again... way, way to much.. 2 ½ hours of it ! yikes... !! any way.. the concert was finally over, and then Brynn and I , plus Mark and his sons made our way back to the House.

There Brynn showed Marks’ sons her bug collection, and her snake; plus showed off her amazing motorcycle. The boys were very impressed, and called Brynn a “ BAD ASS” women...
which is a complement!

Click here to see riding her Motorcycle live !

Later on Mark, Kathy Brynn and I went out to dinner at the local tourist trap restaurant. This restaurant, the pinnacle of Ketch !

The “ Madonna Inn” wow was this place ever ugly ! it was so ugly it was very funny... we had a nice

dinner together in a “ booth” ... later I drove Brynn’s car home, and Brynn and Mark went and had some time alone at “Muldoon point”... Brynn got back at 10pm, and we chatted and went to sleep.

California Day 5

Saturday April 6, 2007

Today I watched Brynn feed her snake ! I took a while for me to get used to the eating habits of a snake.. I will not go into details but if you can imagine it involves live bait... any way...

we went out to do some erronds, we dropped by Cal Poly University,

where Brynn teaches, we then had a nice lunch in San Luis Obispo, Mexican...

later on in the afternoon we went tovisit Brynn’s friend Kathy Lenski, who was a member of the Los Angles String Quartet for 20 years, a Grammy Award winner, and one of the most famous Hollywood Studio musicians. We had a nice dinner together, and then all piled into Brynn’s car, picked up
Mark, ( Brynn’s new boyfriend) and made our way to Atascadero to see a live
concert and CD launch party at Duane Inglish’s house.

( Brynn & Mark at the party)

Duane plays with Brynn in Café Musique on Accordion. His

daughter Erin, plays Banjo, and had produced her first CD. click here to see the live video I made, and put on YouTube

This party was a combination concert of Erin duo, and Duane’s group “ Hot & Cool” .

This house in the middle of cowboy country !

A wonderful location for this house
concert of manly bluegrass and Fresno music. Click here to see Duane's Group with Ted Waterhouse

( picture of Ted,with his prized Guitar,the same Ted Waterhouse, from Price & Waterhouse ! )

Lots of California wine was flowing this evening.. and nice snacks... a really neat combination of fun music, down to earth, natural California music lovers... at one point it was all a very surreal evening.. I felt like I was in a California film and that Woody Allan and Jack Nickelson would walk through the door to enjoy the concert as well... it was lots of fun... !! I am so glad that I have such a great friend like Brynn, who exposes me to yet another form of wild,crazy, and very artisitic people and art forms !

California Day 4

Good Friday, April 06, 2007

Last night, as I mentioned, Brynn and I went out for dinner to a local sea side restaurant, in Pismo Beach, about a 20 minute drive from her house. We went to ‘ Steamers’... had a great fish dinner, and enjoyed some nice Latin jazz.

My eye is slowing getting better, it’s less sore this morning. The hot compress I have been applying to it, 4 times a day is really working, by tomorrow I expect it will be gone.. thank god, without antibiotics ! Milo had a bit of an itchy night, and kept waking me up during the night. Its amazing how quite it is here at night ! It’s only now I really realize how noisy the City of Toronto is at night. And the STARS in the sky.. amazing.. it’s so dark here in Los Osos at night, when I take Milo out for her last evening walk, I need to take a flashlight... it’s that dark ! but up in the sky, the stars are all very bright... and millions and gazillions of them !

This morning we had a nice breakfast together of scrambled eggs and great coffee. After working on Brynn’s computer for a while and Brynn did some phone calling and organization, we eventually went again to the beach by Morro Bay with the dogs. We all had great time. The dogs just love the water! And the salty Pacific Ocean does wonders for Milo’s itchy skin. Afterwards we drove over to Brynn’s parents house in Cambria, about a 25 minute drive along the most scenic highway in the world, Highway No. 1.. which goes all the way up the west coast of North America, from Mexico all the way up to Alaska !

We visited her parents for about 30 minutes, and then went into town to enjoy a real English Tea at the local

“ Tea Cozy” . We had a brilliant time enjoying the Royal Tea, which included, freshly homemade Scones, with homemade Jam and clotted cream, a delicious selection of tea sandwiches and a yummy assortment of Petit Fores. I had 2 pots of the ‘ afternoon tea’ to which I bought a bag of for Ineke to which she will really enjoy !

After our tea, we went back to Brynn’s parents, picked up the dogs and made a B-line for the Dog park. They had there last fun for the day, and then we set off for home, Los Osos, once again.

Now its 9:00pm, and the day is slowing winding down. Tomorrow.. more exciting adventures lie ahead....

( click on any image in enlarge image view)

California Day 2 and 3

Wed. April 4 & Thursday April 5, 2007
California Day 2 & 3

Day 2.

After a good nights rest, a nice breakfast of fresh bagels and a
great cup of coffee, Brynn and I and the kids ( the dogs) set off for a day at Brynn’s parents in Cambria. We arrived in Cambria around 9:30am. Brynn had some doctors appointments, so I was
left at her parents house with the dogs for a couple of hours.

I had a nice time reading and sitting in the sun on the deck. Brynn’s parents were away for the day, plant shopping, but would be back later for dinner. Brynn got back at about 1:00pm, and then we went together with the dogs in town, and had lunch at the local Grill in Cambria. We ate with
a friend of Brynn’s, Steve, who also had a dog. The three of us, and all the dogs, went after lunch to the local Dog beach just outside of Cambria, close to Hearst Castle.
The dogs had a great time swimming in the Pacific Ocean. Milo loved it ! We left the beach after an hour or so and went our own ways. Brynn and I made our way back to her parents house, where she started preparing dinner, and waiting for the arrival of her new boyfriend, Mark, and also her parent, Claude and Rhoda. We had a great BBQ pork chop dinner, with Chutney, and and a wonderful fresh California salad ! After dinner we said our goodbyes, and made our way back to Los Osos at about 10:00pm Pheew... great long day.. and boy will I sleep well tonight.. Milo too..



Day 3.
My eye is still really bothering me... as I turns out I have a ‘ stye eye’ and it sore and red.. very uncomfortable.. but .. C’est la vie.. what can I do.. Today after getting up at about 8:30am , I did some phone calling.. called United Airlines to make sure Milo is indeed intended, and booked to travel back in Cargo! This has now been confirmed, no mishaps, and misunderstandings this time I hope. And then I had to call my Vet, Downtown Animal hospital to have Milo vaccination paper faxed down here to the local vet in Los Osos, as I was suppose to have them to travel too... man these airlines, sure do not give the right information at all when traveling with a pet... !! but now we are all set... we picked up the papers.. and now today, we had a great car ride to the picturesque areas around Los Osos.

We had Japanese food for lunch which was yummy, and dogs waited in the car as we ate on the terrace in balmy sunny 25 degrees weather... then we continued on to the mountainous area
close by... Lake Lopez...
On the way there we passed many vineyards, and orange tree orchards.. full of oranges ready to pick. We stop at the side of the road and I got out and indeed picked 2 oranges straight off the trees... wow.. that was do neat .. We made our way back at about 3pm.. now we both had a little time out, the dogs are sleeping, I put a warm compress on my eye for 15 minutes, and hopefully that will speed up the process of healing. Tonight we are going to a Latin Jazz club...

I’m looking forward to that.. !!


(click on any image to enlarge the view)

WOW..I'M FINALLY IN CALIFORINA ! DAY 1

So here I am in sunny and warm California... Milo and I made it! It was quite the experience traveling with a dog.. not as easy as it seems.. first of all when I arrived at the airport in Toronto with Milo I was shocked to learn that she was not aloud in her crate in cargo, but had to be taken on board in the cabin.. shocker ! as I did not prepare for this, and had to run like hell to the other side of the terminal to quickly purchase a dog carry on bag, and then run back to check in as I only had 15 more minutes to check in ! and what’s so maddening, is that I had especially US Airways, when booking the place for milo, as they said on the phone that they do not except dogs in CABIN and had to be in a crate. So they gave me complete wrong information. I do have to double check with my airlines going back, to avoid another screw up for the trip back to Toronto.

But we made it.. and Milo and made our way to the check in gate. At the gate, I thought to ask if I could " upgrade" to 1st class, now with Milo in tow, and see how much extra it would be. To my surprise it would only cost and extra $150 dollars to upgrade to 1st class... so I took the chance immediately and purchased the upgrade. I'm glad I did ! ... the seat was nice and wide, and so much more comfortable... back in the economy class, the seats were 3 and 3.. and up front 2 seats where in place as apposed to the 3 in the back.. all in all a great flight to Phoenix.. and Milo stored under the seat in front of me by my feet, in her new red carry-on doggy case. She slept the whole way I had given her a dog sedative early that morning. We arrived in Phoenix 45 mins late, as we left Toronto late, because a bird had flown into the airplane engine..

I know I didn't mention this before.. didn't want to alarm everyone ! but they got the bird remnants out of the engine, checked it, and all was well... but like I said when arriving in Phoenix so late for my connecting flight to San Luis Obispo, ( that’s about 20 min from Brynn’s house in Los Osos) I had to run with Milo all the way to the other side of the terminal in the Phoenix airport, and had only 5 mins to make it ! ... I made it ! and boy was I out of breath.. popped Milo back into her bag, I wasn't able to run and carry her... ( it really felt like I was in the TV show “ the Amazing race !) We sat at the back of this very small aircraft, that only sat 48, and had 2 seats to my self, for a 40 minute flight to California.. FINALLY ! ...

( picture of pictuesque Los Osos)

Pheew... we made it.. the airport in San Louis Obispo is so small, it only has one runway, and when you dis-embark from the plane, you walk down these little stairs outside the plane and right onto the tar-mate.. it was weird to be standing right beside the aircraft.. but finally outside in the California weather.. yahoo.. it’s about 25 degrees outside, and not a cloud in the sky.. the California mountains, and hills surrounded me, and it was all so nice and green !. .. yaaaah !.. I was finally here !.. as it turns out it took us a total of 7 hours to get here, but its worth it !

( this is picture of San Luis Obispo from the air )

Milo was really happy to see Brynn. My luggage, my suitcase, and Milo’s EMPTY dog crate arrived fine as well.. which really surprised me, as like I said I had 5 minutes to transfer to my other flight.... but, my luggage, had to also be quickly found in the Toronto flight, and transferred to the San Luis Obispo flight as well.. but it worked.

We drove to Brynn’s new house, in her brand new white Toyota, Matrix. Brynn lives in a great 2 bedroom Bungalow. I have my own bedroom with a king size bed. Milo and I took a little down time, and rested on the bed for an hour as Brynn went out to do some errands. When she got back, we sat and gabbed for a while, and then decided to leave the dogs at home and go out for dinner. We went to a great local hamburger grill. Ate our burger,fries, and malted chocolate shake out on the deck of the grill and admired the beautiful sunset and evening.. Great burger.. it was topped with Avocado , cheese and Spanish onions.. yummm.. !

Its just great to be back here with Brynn.. in beautiful.. warm sunny California…