Art and Gyros

Finally made it to the MFAH for the opening of a few exhibits -- one on Diane Arbus (photography from mid-60's) and one on Avant-Garde Art in Latin America. They opened last night for a Members-Only party, but we passed on that and did today's family open-house. The photos were really cool -- lots of eccentric subjects like transvestites, circus side-show acts, strippers, and then normal scenes on the streets of NYC / ethnic neighborhoods. Lots of passion and emotion captured. Of course, the boys were bored...

They had a better time at the other exhibit, since many of the installations were hands-on. The art was much larger, also, which makes it more impressive to little folks like them. There was a huge iguana made from nails, wood, clay, bottle caps and other found-objects that the boys really liked. We looked at the regular collections also. Porter really liked a renaissance painting of Christ and Mary M / Mary after the crucifixion. We've been enough times so that Jackson can tell who people are in the paintings if they are religious (angels, Mary, Christ, etc.)

After that we headed to Niko Niko's for lunch -- success this time! Still a bit crowded, but we got a table no problem. Lots of activity over in the Montrose area today, since the Gay Pride parade is tonight --

Katie has the boys packed for their trip to Nana's house for a few days while she and I are in Orlando. We'll head out earlyish tomorrow, so it makes sense to get them over to Carolyn's tonight -- gives us the chance to get packed ourselves. Tonight I think we'll just veg in front of the TV, eat a little pasta, and get ready for our trip.

Working from home

Spending some time working from home today -- glad I don't have to drive to the office, since it's been pouring rain off and on (mostly on) all day. First thing this morning I learned that the UNIX admin at the client had crashed our dev box -- on accident, of course. They got it back up, but she crashed it again -- hope this doesn't become a habit!!

The guys are deploying everything that is left this afternoon, so we're officially 'hands-off' -- last bit of users go live officially on Monday.

Katie is reading to the boys and basically trying to make sure they have a good day, even if it is sucky outside. For some reason, they decided that it's Hunter's (the cat) birthday. So they baked her a cake and Jackson wrapped a present for her. He asked Katie a few minutes ago what to do if Hunter doesn't know how to unwrap a present... Jackson told me that she's 27 today. He made her a card!

May or may not go to the MFAH exhibit opening party tonight. Would be fun to take the boys, but if it's messy rain, I'd rather get a movie for us all and order pizza!!

Hard couple of days

It's been a hard couple of days at work -- dealing with the constant push-back / having to prove ourselves once again with respect to the other contractors that are on-site at my main project. It's really getting old. We are successful every single time, but it's still a hassle to have to answer to every second-guess -- especially when we've explained ourselves and our approach to the client (at the proper time) and gotten approval.

Anyway, the stress is shitty -- I almost cancelled my trip home yesterday to physically be in attendance at a meeting today that threatened to devolve to a bitch session (the one yesterday did...) -- but when I told Jackson on the phone I wasn't going to be able to come home last night, he was REALLY upset. And rightfully so. I promised him (and Katie and Porter) that I was going to be home Wed night, so that's what he expected. Long story short, I missed my normal plane, but caught a later one and got home, where I belong.

Prepped much of the day mentally for how to address all the issues, and possibilities, that would come up -- and in the end, it worked out fine. Thinking ahead, and one step ahead, pays off.

Had lunch with Katie -- we met at Mambo Seafood. She hadn't been there, and it's one of my favorite places to eat up near the office. Good, cheap seafood taqueria-style place. Real and relaxed. We had a great time, and I'm glad we had the chance to be together alone for just a little while.

Rest of the day worked with Travis and Hina to get the demo / scenario in place for our presentation on Tuesday in Orlando at the Cognos conference. Should be a light day tomorrow, then off to Orlando on Sunday - Wed.

Great Fathers' Day!

Today was a perfect Fathers' Day -- Thank you Katie, Jackson and Porter!!

Jackson crawled into bed with me around 6 and wanted to know what my favorite dinosaur is. And I thought he would sleep a little late, at least, since he didn't go to bed until after 9 last night?!?! Oh, well... He was in a great mood this morning, but after about 15 minutes, it was clear he wasn't going to lay and rest with me -- so he popped out of bed and went to see what Katie was doing [working out]. She took the boys over to Central Market later in the morning and let me get some extended rest.

When they got back, we all tried to decide what we wanted to do for the day, and the boys wanted to head to the Dinosaur Museum, then to lunch. So that's just what we did. Lunch started out bad [people not following the rules of 'order first / then take a table' at Niko Niko's], but ended up great -- we ditched the Niko2 idea and went to Taqueria la Tapatia instead.

Later in the afternoon, Katie took the boys to see their cousins while I made my travel plans and packed for the week -- I also had a chance to jam around on the guitar (acoustic and electric today) for a while. When they got back, we all watched the Spiderman movie Katie bought us, and Katie cooked a nice dinner for me. After dinner I read to the boys and got them all squared away in bed.

All in all, a wonderful day --

Back from Vegas

What a trip!! We had a blast in Vegas blowing off some steam left over from Phase 1 of our project == and I'm glad we did it Wed-Friday, since I know I need the weekend to rest and be ready for work again. Here's the lowdown on what went down....

Wed we hooked up at the airport [Ian, SK, Jeff and I] for the flight to Vegas -- hung out with some cool people on the plane and had a bloody mary to kick the trip off. Once we got to Vegas, I had several calls from FSMB, Mike and Hung trying to get in touch with us -- something had wacked out our application and no one could get it to return any data. Long story short, client didn't follow the procedure for starting / stopping the database, and it hosed our connection. All was well within 30 min... We took a limo from the airport into town and took care of most of it in the car (and in style!)

Wed afternoon we hung around the pool at the Hard Rock -- Hung had arranged for cabanas each day, and Wed was Hard Rock day. I think that's the best pool I've ever been to. The bottom of the pool had really nice gravely sand and felt wonderful. Basically, there were 2 large lagoons connected by a lazy river that wrapped around the bar / blackjack area, and went under a 20' waterfall. They even had a water slide!!

We played there until we were done in the sun for the day (had lunch at The Pink Taco in the hotel) and eventually made our way over to Mandalay Bay to rest before dinner. That night we basically just walked around the Luxor / Mandalay Bay area before catching up with the rest of the group over at Red Square for a couple of vodkas and then next door to Rum Jungle for dinner and dancing. Worst meal I've ever had in Vegas -- food was cold, service shitty, steak tough. Hated to say it, but that's the way it goes.

We took off for the table games after that, and by the time 4:30 the next morning rolled around, I had certainly had my share for the day. [Jeff, Mike and I were the late-nighters that night] Thursday I basically recovered by sleeping late, then napping at the pool at Mandalay's main beach. Thursday night we headed over to Simon Kitchen at the Hard Rock for dinner -- much better meal!! Frankly, it's one of my favorite restaurants, and they didn't disappoint. That evening we played at Hard Rock for a while -- I lost one too many hands to the blackjack dealer and called it an evening about 11:00.

Mike and the guys would have none of that, though. By midnight, they had me back out at the casino at Mandalay. I played for about another hour and listened to a band playing a lounge nearby, then turned in -- Mike and SK were the late-night guys that night.

Friday was all about doing the things we didn't get to do the other two days. We did breakfast buffet at Alladin, then hit their mall for some shopping. I lounged at the cabana for a while at the newly opened South Lagoon at Mandalay and then took a stroll through Shark Reef. Played a bit more blackjack to lessen my losses -- ended up not too bad. Then it was off to the airport around 5. Flight was a bit delayed, but we still touched down in Houston just about 12:30 am.

Nice way to treat the team to a little R/R --

Vegas Baby!!

Just got in from Dallas on a quick overnight trip -- made sure we were officially live on our systems (except the workflow, which we'll go live on when we get back).

Packed and ready to go -- Plane leaves at 8:50 in the morning. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Back home

Spent a few days in Dallas after the Clapton show to actually WORK... but now back in Houston.

I stopped in Centerville to get some spicy pickles and summer sausage on the way back. I discovered the little Williams Smokehouse / Shell Gas Station a few years ago, and now when I make the trip via car, I always plan a stop. Jackson loves the summer sausage -- and I love the sweet-fire pickles!!

I have an opportunity for a SOx review / assessment gig that I'm dealing with in the morning, but otherwise, I'm in responder mode: deal with things as they come up. I've got a few things to do to get ready for the Cognos Forum presentation in a few weeks in Orlando, but other than that, should be a light day tomorrow.

I'll try to hook up with Hadden, since he's back in town, and talk guitars -- need to know a good set-up tech for when I get my new Strat... And I'm looking forward to lunch with Katie...

Crossroads Festival, Day 2

What can I say, other than it was the show of a decade -- perhaps even a lifetime! Nowhere before or again will I ever see that many musicians with that much talent sharing their craft with us and eachother.

After it was all said and done, I spent over 12 hours in the Cotton Bowl, treated to fantastic performances, one after another. Neal Schon opened the day with the Star Spangled Banner and led straight into a blistering rendition of Voodoo Child. Just the right way to start the day! Steve Vai was up next (celebrating his birthday) doing some guitar work that I can only describe as operatic -- with all the peaks and valleys of intonation, and so many different voicings you would not believe it unless you saw him work.

I had a great spot right to the front corner of the sound board, about 30 yards from the stage -- a perfect center spot to take it all in. My buddy Jimmy and his crew had 'seated' tickets in section 23/row 60, so I didn't really get to hook up with him (didn't want to lose my 3x4 spot of turf). Giancarlo (my guitar instructor) finally showed up later in the day, and he brought some friends over to share the view.

Of all the acts, it was clear that Jimmy Vaughn was the de facto stage master -- he did his own set around 3:00, and hung around with his band to support an old blues-man Hubert Sumlin on guitar and David Johansen (NY Dolls/Buster Poindexter) banging out gravely blues vocals. Booker T and the MGs took the main stage next and cranked up the Hammond organ for some classy old-school, but imagine our surprise when Booker T busted out the Apple powerbook (on top of his organ) while he and the band did their job as house band for Bo Diddley and Joe Walsh!! [Still don't know what the Apple was for?!?!]

Joe cracked the place up with his on-stage antics, and played lots of old favorites. Vince Gill began the 'ease off' period, capped by James Taylor's acoustic set -- I love James Taylor, but in a day of solid blues, he seemed out of place.

The real All Star Blues Jam of the day came in the late afternoon when BB King, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Vaughn, John Mayer and Eric Clapton pulled three separate 20 minute 12-bar extended jams. It was great to have them all in one place, and I hate to say it, but I got just a *tad* bit bored with it near the end -- I guess I just wanted to hea them pick it up in tempo after a bit. But hey, it's their show!

Santana sure picked it up, though -- rocking through the first cloud of stage fog of the day. It was finally getting dark, so they kicked on the lights and effects, and Santana seemed to be the right one to do it for. Clapton joined him for an encore and afterwards the crew cleared the stage and got it set for Clapton's turn.

Clapton and crew did a handful of acoustic blues takes from his recent Robert Johnson trib album, and then swapped the Martins for Strats and kicked in the overdrive. The all out versions of Layla and Badge were worth the ticket on their own. Wonderful Tonight was all emotion, and Cocaine spoke to the reason for the fest in the first place, raising $$ for the Crossroads Center.

I could have (and maybe should have) left after that, but ZZ Top took the stage after an equip swap. By then, the storms started moving in -- bringing the threat of wind, so the crew took down all the stage dressing that would have turned the whole thing into a big sailing ship.

The boys from Texas ran through an uninspired round of their hits, and unfortunately the finale with ZZ, Clapton and Jeff Beck (plus presumably everyone else) never materialized. Blame it on the weather.

In the end, the thing I remember the most is how humble ever artist -- every one -- was in thanking Clapton for the opportunity to be there. The respect that they have for eachother and the fact that they were clearly touched to be able to perform for us made it clear to me that these guys are real people, with real emotions, and are as taken in the same amount of awe that we are.

Very much a treat to experience the Crossroads Festival.

Crossroads Festival, Day 1

Wow -- just got back from the Saturday line-up of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas. Kick-ass show -- Caught Johnny Lang right after I got there around 4. Saw part of Eric Johnson's show -- very impressive finger work and extremely nice tone from his guitar. Dany Tyminski played duet acoustic with another guy, and he was really good. Bluegrass isn't totally my taste, but in little bits, I enjoy it.

The treat of the night, though, was JJ Cale -- with guest Eric Clapton -- playing tons of songs that he wrote, but others covered. Like 'After Mindingt', 'The Breeze', 'Cocaine', and some others that I can't remember... Blew me away watching those two guys trade licks. Clapton was all class -- never upstaging Cale. And Cale's voice was true grit -- blues from way back. Wish I had those vocals!

After that, I caught a bit of John Mayer and the first part of Robert Randalph and the Family Band (Funk with slide guitar). Good, but by 10, it was time for me to head back to the hotel... Hate to have missed the All-star Blues Jam, but I'll catch more of those guys tomorrow. Being on my own this afternoon / evening, I just felt more comfortable getting out of there before the huge crowd. And it's going to be a long 11 hour show tomorrow!!

One regret / thought: I saw so many dads there with their kids, mostly 8 and up, though. I don't want to rush my kids to grow up in any way, but I can see today the fun we have ahead of us -- I look forward to sharing days like today with Jackson and Porter!

Quickies

Busy day today in Houston. Had several phone calls / emails regarding how to fix one particular feature of the application we're rolling out at FSMB -- decided to stay simple, not take on additional risk. Jumped from there to a call re: compliance solutions / strategies with Sun. Then back to FSMB deploy issues; plus resource issues -- Curtis needs to get back working to finish SmarTrakker, I need him full time on my project.

Lunch at James Coney Island of 2 cheese Coneys, all the way, chili w/ onions and beans. Afternoon was a blur -- trying to wrap the week on the project, then get to guitar. Worked on some more blues theory / riffs using Aerosmith's Honkin' on Bobo album.

Cooked dinner -- pasta w/ chicken, grape tomatos, onions, spinach, greek basalmic vinegarette. Porter liked it -- so did Katie and I. Put new strings on my Martin acoustic guitar, with Porter's help. Read books to the kids (Mr. Bumble; FrankenFrog; Minnie / Daisy in The Dognapper).

Drank some beer / watched the Astros lose.

I'll pack in the morning to head to Dallas for the Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival / Show -- should be fun, but will make for a long few days away from the family.

Note to Jackson

Jackson is an extremely special little boy -- and yes, I'm saying that because I'm his father.

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Jackson, I had a chance to really sit and watch you over the weekend and I am so proud of you. Yes, you were a pain in the butt quite a few times; but you did exactly what I would expect of you. When you were tired, you showed it. When you were hungry and tired, you showed it even more! And when you were happy, oh, how you showed it!

I love how you give 200% in everything you do -- you are so dedicated. Even if it's dedicated to something I don't want you to be doing at the time... Like dumping sand out of the sandbox.

I sat and just watched you last night after I finished dinner -- you were watching TV, eating some popcorn and drinking your ice water (always ICE in the water for you). You are so intent; you are so animated! You are a very good looking boy, too -- even though others flock to Porter's blonde hair and blue eyes, you've got quite a good look about you in your own right.

Jackson, you make me laugh -- the things you say, how you name things after common objects (Sand and Grass, the dinosaurs; Balloon the bear), how you get so excited telling me of your latest antics. You know how to make people smile.

One of the best parts of the weekend was you standing out in the hallway scared at 3 in the morning on Sunday night and me bringing you to mom and dad's bed -- and how we both woke up to the 8 o'clock sun and just spent a few quiet minutes together first thing in the morning.

I know I get mad at you and I know I punish you when you are bad, but that's part of life -- you have to follow the rules. But Jackson, I love you so very much -- and I'm glad you are the boy you are at 4 1/2. Don't ever give that up!