My Latest Stinkpiece

I’ve taken care of the critical business of the day, including grocery shopping, wishing a happy 68th to the Wig, and a shortened walk on my recuperating hip. I was fortunate to be able to connect with my favorite physiatrist via video call on my way to Tahoe last week.  I picked up some methylprednisolone at the Tahoe City CVS and am on the mend before I hop on the plane to DC Wednesday. I’ll get to hang out with my darling grandkids for ten days in DC and at the Jersey shore, along with the rest of my family. 

We headed to Tahoe on Tuesday along with Unc and Mashie. We took our Hyundai Ioniq as opposed to theirs since we have a button that closes the trunk door and theirs doesn’t. Talk about a case of buyer’s remorse! TCG and Katie welcomed us with open arms and a modicum of trepidation. We headed to #2’s house up the road for Taco Tuesday. Like a lot of the village guys, #2 is a good cook.  All I was required to do was prepare my 3-2-1 margaritas, which were a hit as usual. 

Wednesday was a little lazy, with the guys hanging back and the women spending time at the beach. We then headed to San Harbor around 4pm to catch these guys.

https://superdiamond.com/

Surreal Neil and the boys put on a good show. I grew up listening to this stuff so I enjoyed it.  They veered into other artist’s tunes for a few seconds during transition periods.  I thought I was hearing things when I heard a riff from Led Zep’s D’yer Mak’er. We skipped out a few minutes before the end and beat the crowd. Being up until 11pm is a rare experience for me.

Thursday was boat day, with the women in Katie’s boat and the guys in #2’s. We headed over to Gar Woods for lunch and then took over a buoy and tied the boats together.  The brave among us jumped in the water. I was not one of them. The evening brought us to the beach. My wife had prepped her oven-fried chicken and cornbread and we had corn, salad and Mashie’s baked treats for dessert. We played a new game called Chronolgy. #1 won the first and I won the second, but we did not go head to head as I sat out the first. I’m looking forward to a one on one match with #1 so I can crush his spirit. During the first game, TCG and #1 got a little chippy, as the football announcers say. Fortunately it did not escalate to the near cage match level we saw in Mexico City, detailed in my 3/1/26 post. During the evening #1 asked me if I’d be getting a post in before my East Coast trip, although I stated in my last one that that was unlikely. Again, he has spurred me to greatness. In response, I challenged him to a cage match.

Before the Tahoe trip, the wife and I made one of our rare trips to the movies.  I thought the 10am show and our advanced age would lead to a discounted ticket, but we paid the full freight at $18. We enjoyed the Olivia Wilde directed The Invite.  I understand she takes her shirt off a lot in her latest movie, so we may be catching that one as well.

There has been a lot going on in celebrity circles. Pete Davidson & Elsie Hewitt reached a co-parenting agreement. I expect that to be as successful as the U.S. / Iran memorandum of understanding. Nikki Bella told us she was celibate, Sid Wilson was kicked out of Slipknot, and ‘Big Brother’ evictee Jason De Puy spilled the tea on unseen pronoun fight with Devens and Kamu. Meanwhile, the Barbie sequel is stalled due to contract negotiations. That one hits hard.  How much is enough people??!! Lastly, Linda Blair has gone to the dogs.

In music, BTS is boycotting the Grammys after the introduction of a new Asian pop prize. Given that, I’m boycotting them too. North West, the 13-year-old turquoise-haired daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, has canceled her headlining tour with rapper Molly Santana. I am forever grateful for my normal childhood and truly feel sorry for all the kids of the Kardashian sisters.

As usual, politics has me tearing my hair out.  The morons are going after Dr. Fauci. I think I’ve said this before, but Rand Paul’s neighbor needs to pay him another visit. I was happy to see America’s sweetheart Jeanine Pirro drop the reflecting pool case against David Hearn. She attributed the problem to a shady installation, which made Trump go apoplectic. On the bright side, we are back to discussing an Iran ceasefire. Let’s all hope it holds this time. Also, FYI, I haven’t heard from Mitch.

OK, that’s it. I’m going to go stretch this ancient body before I tackle today’s NYT crossword. 

Blogmaxxing

I am the self-appointed language police and I'm tired of this crap.

https://www.wired.com/story/solomaxxing/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/opinion/children-parents-billionaires-wealth-fathers.html?eafs_enabled=false

https://billionthblog.blogspot.com/search?q=looksmaxxing

My computer just croaked so I am coming to you from my Chromebook. I hope it doesn't have any impact on the quality of my posts.  I did a few fantastic blog posts from France on it so there should be no worries.  My daughter got some old family videos off my PC just in time. I brought it in to a San Mateo firm so if it truly toast they can at least get the data off it.  I went to TCG the last time I had a problem but he has sold the business. The top three reasons he wanted to retire were 1) lower stress, 2) spend more time with friends, family and his money, and 3) not deal with DJ's lame-ass PC problems. SB1 will be spending a few weeks here at the end of the year so he can be my IT guy and set up whatever cheap box I decide to go with next.

The wife and I got to go to Heritage Fire yesterday. Since we are well connected with the Hotelier, we got the VIP parking and wristband, which allowed us to enter early and sit in the VIP section.  I did a lot of sitting since my hip is on the fritz again, but I'm hoping that is a temporary situation. I'm going to Tahoe tomorrow and the East Coast next week, so I need to be on my A game.  As I told my brother yesterday, my A game is the equivalent of everybody else's C game. But I'm getting off topic. Heritage Fire was a successful event and the chow was primo.  My fave was Macarena's ribeye paella. The wine was flowing as well. Some lady thought I might be the Hotelier's brother. I said "C'mon, I ain't that good looking".

https://www.thesanfranciscopeninsula.com/food-and-drink/heritage-fire/

As I said, I will be traveling quite a bit, so I may not be posting again until later in August.  I hate to tear the band-aid off like that, but I gotta be up front with my base.

Bulgogi

I sat down to write about my wonderful Napa weekend, so what is the deal with the title, you might rightly inquire. Well, I decided to try a new marinade for my BBQ chicken thighs, and I went with bulgogi. I made my own as opposed to buying a bottle. The test will be tonight.  If it is tasty, I’ll tell you it was fantastic. Otherwise, we will not speak of it again.

And before I delve in to Napa, I need to give a shout out to the Hoteliers for hosting us on July 4th, which I should have put in my last post. They grilled up some sausages and Wagyu hot dogs. This took place at their Burlingame property, not in San Mateo or Oakhurst.  They were in a good mood because they were able to get out of their foray into Manhattan real estate when the high-rise they bid on began to buckle.

This past Friday morning we loaded into #1’s Subaru and headed to Carneros to hang with the Banker and Tina. We had a Far Niente wine tasting on the grounds before our dinner in their courtyard.  That Mexican dish I referenced in my last post was actually Peruvian. The Mexican rice I bought paired well and I was also responsible for prepping the green beans #1 brought up. We also enjoyed a South African Pinotage they had brought back from their recent trip. My wife’s peach cake topped things off.

The big event on Saturday was a tasting at Aonair Winery & Caves. There is an interesting origin story for this place.  The owner started making wine in his basement when he was 17 and spent some years in the industry before buying the property from a Kona coffee magnate that got in trouble for building a tunnel under a county road. In a stroke of luck, the new owner discovered it was the county that built the road on the winery’s property, so the tunnel was legit.  We also learned that a lot of banks would not lend, but First Republic stepped up.  The Banker stated that he worked there and recalled the deal.  That got him a bottle of small batch reserve.

We had a great diner that evening at Don Giovanni. They turned the heaters up at one point, which allowed me to re-heat my dish of Ziti Amatriciana. The Banker recommended the house wine and it was a winner. Our Uber ride home was a highlight.  We were greeted in Spanish, so I took it as my cue to gab a little. He said my Spanish was good. He then threw us a curve ball and said he was from Afghanistan and had been an interpreter for a colonel in the U.S. Army. He said he spoke Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian.  His three kids born over there were “amateur Americans” and his three kids born here were “organic Americans”.  He was quite engaging, but we all thought he might be a Vivarin customer.

Alas, all good times must come to an end.  After breakfast Sunday morning, we hung by the pool for a few hours before heading back to the FC. It is my fervent hope that #1 did not ruin our chances for another invite.

Pressure

Is it internal or external? I’m trying to figure it out. Being an artiste, I do feel driven to write two or three paragraphs on occasion. But when I see midnight blog hits from friend and stalker muse #1, who has just returned from a month-long international jaunt, I feel compelled to not disappoint. Also, the bio prompts from my wife, which I mentioned in my last post, continue to appear.  The latest is “Describe your childhood home.” My first stab at that was “Well, first off, they were all hovels. A librarian’s kid does not live in palaces”. I’m still trying to figure out if I was a lazy librarian’s son or a librarian’s lazy son.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGM8fDzS5UQ&list=RDWGM8fDzS5UQ&start_radio=1

I’m happy to be launching this post today as it will be conversation fodder when #1 and I drive up with our better halves to Napa on Friday.  We’ve been invited up to The Banker and Tina’s home away from home.  They have had us there a few times, so they should know better, but they continue to invite us back.  #1 will prepare an amazing Mexican dish for one evening and we will go out the other. I’ve been tasked with making rice, which stretches the limits of my culinary ability. It looks like we are in for good weather, with temps topping out in the high 80s. We are lucky to be in this part of the country.

A Foster City restaurant has made the Chron for their family friendly policy. I sent it off to 4M and he agrees with it. I can understand that but perhaps they could be a little less in your face about it. However, that is not how the owner rolls, also evidenced by the sign below that appeared there a few years ago.

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/bay-area-policy-unruly-kids-22334581.php

Anyone heard from Mitch?

Dia del Padre

I chatted with my kids on Father’s Day. We had upbeat conversations and they didn’t ask for any boomer cash. My wife gave me a gift that will turn into a biography. She will ask a series of questions and I will respond. When complete, the answers will be compiled into a book. I guess she is like #1, in that she thinks I don’t write enough. The first question is regarding my best childhood memory.  I think that will be a series of things, but what I remember vividly is my child-like sense of wonder.

I recalled the old man on Sunday. He has been gone 17 years now. Beneath his gruff exterior was a gruff interior. I kid. He was a pretty quiet dude, but he had a sense of humor.  He was fine when I called him El Viejo or Papa Doc.

We had a great Father’s Day with a whole passel of Wigs.  The Wig and CC were in town visiting two of their four kids and their beautiful granddaughter. The wife and I prepared BBQ chicken, baked beans and pasta salad.  CC brought a green salad and my wife, a baking queen, produced a plum torte.  She also made Aperol Spritzes for the gang. I did not have one as I am not hip enough.

We had a nice dinner up the street on Friday with the driveway cocktail squad. We had all noticed that our new neighbors, who have not moved in yet, were installing a security system. My wife mentioned that we’ve rarely locked our doors in our 32 years here.  I told the crowd that the new neighbors had not originally planned to install the alarm system, but then they met us and changed their mind.

I have a quick question before I go.  Would you entrust your reflecting pool rehab to this guy?

Out of Africa

#1 and Barbie are off on the adventure of a lifetime. They started with a Paris stop and then a canal boat journey within France.  They are now on an African safari.  The best part of this trip is that it resulted in blog hits for me from France and Zimbabwe. #1 reported that he repeatedly heard the same phrase in two different tribal languages.  He finally asked the guide what was being said. It translated to “get the hell out of here”.

I had another tooth yanked Wednesday. It usually goes pretty well.  This one was quick and there was not too much swelling or pain. I’m trying to determine if this is because I’m lucky or because I’m a stoic superhuman, as I’ve always thought myself to be. They packaged up the tooth as it had a gold crown.  I stuck it in the mail, tooth and all, and sent it to some concern in Philly that will give me some dough for it.

We got back from our Oregon sojourn Monday. The flight up was uneventful except for the style maven that was wearing a dull brown V-neck slanket with a red scarf.  I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. We picked up our rental Camry at PDX and headed to Cannon Beach, where we met Portland’s Young Couple of the Year, as designated by myself, my dear daughter and AG. We got some pics at Haystack Rock, a 235-foot-tall sea stack, but we did not catch the herd of elk the place is known for. We took some pics that I liked, because I did not look as decrepit as usual. Maybe it was something in the sea air.

We hit the Pelican Brewery for dinner that first night. The wife and I had poke bowls we were not particularly impressed with, but we are extremely demanding customers.  Fortunately the IPAs on tap hit the spot. The next night we stopped at The Alchemy Lounge, which was attached to the main hotel on the strip. They have several units spread out in the area and we stayed at one of their outposts up the street. The dinner and drinks there were very good, until I ordered the mac and cheese as our final dish. I could have made a better one before I even learned to cook. Or maybe I’m just being extremely demanding.

We went up to the quaint town of Astoria for a Saturday road trip. We stopped at the Fort George brewery, which surprisingly had excellent pizza. And of course, the IPAs were great. We did notice a few people walking around in sleepwear. Maybe they were just out for a quick coffee.  I also saw one guy in the most hideous track suit I have ever seen.  It may have been inspired by a Jackson Pollock painting.

By Sunday afternoon my wife and I were alone with our thoughts, which is often a precarious place to be. We headed to Bandon, which is known for golf and not much else. We liked our room at the Bandon Inn.  We had a king size bed, which allows us to get along better. We had dinner at an Italian place that reminded me of places I used to go to in upstate NY many decades ago. The food was passable.

My wife, an excellent trip planner, had put together a great coastal tour where we saw several rock formations, bridges and beaches I doubt have had many human visitors. We stopped for a panini in a small coastal town. If I had taken notes as my wife often exhorted me to, I could tell you its name.  Back in Bandon, we scoped out the ideal spot to watch NBA finals game three. The Arcade had a few gambling machines I stayed away from, along with a vibrant bingo scene.  The first pot was worth $300. Before the festivities began, they played the Star-Spangled Banner.  I stood with the crowd, in order to lower the chances of getting my ass kicked. We then got to the Crab Shack about 20 minutes before closing.  Sadly, they were out of oysters, which we had later in our trip, but the fish sandwiches were fine.

We saw more of the coast on our drive to McMinnville. We stopped in Florence for lunch.  My wife thought the town was cute, and I agreed wholeheartedly.  The fact that the weather was gorgeous likely helped.  That good weather continued for the rest of our Oregon stay, although a tad too warm in Portland. McMinnville is a very cool town, with good food and several tasting rooms. We hit two wineries, Cana’s Feast and Dominio IV. We chatted up our gracious hosts and were pleasantly surprised by the tasting costs. Dominio IV was on a farm.  They invited us to go cherry picking but said we had to watch our step.  The pourer said she had twisted her ankle a few times.  So DJ decided that perhaps he should remain seated, sip wine and forego the cherries.

Our two dinners in McMinnville were excellent. The first night we stopped at The Bitter Monk to catch some of game 4 before dinner at La Rambla, where we had oyster and top-notch tapas. We went to Bistro Maison for night two, which featured more oysters and a killer Coq Au Vin. I can’t remember what my wife had, but she enjoyed it along with some of my dinner. We are good sharers.

We were then off to Portland for the weekend.  The girl and AG treated us to dinner at Arden for our birthdays. It really was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. The $75 per prix fixe meal is more than a bargain. The three rounds of chow they brought were all outstanding.  You gotta go.  Tell them DJ sent you.

The next night we went to the Moda Center to see the Portland Fire beat the Dallas Wings by one with a last second foul shot. Paige Bueckers was injured so we did not have a chance to see her stellar play.

For our last night in Portland, we were supposed to have dinner with AG’s parents, but her mom came down with a case of COVID, so we had to make other plans. We made a quick stop at their house and AG went in to steal some of their chicken and the scrumptious smoked salmon that her dad had prepared. The girl grilled up the purloined chicken just right and we had a nice meal.

Back on Gull, we had a fun Facetime call with our sweet grandchildren this morning. The girl is beginning to crawl, and the boy is content to sit there and watch her. Have I told you they are both SUPER CUTE.  I did find out earlier this week that this company decided to steal my name.

https://www.depop.com/

Winning

I’m not sure how Charlie Sheen is doing lately, but Trump has been knocking it out of the park. The pic below shows him working on not falling into the Thucydides Trap. I’m looking forward to the Freedom 250 concert, which at this point will consist of Vanilla Ice doing his one hit with a stolen bass line and not much else. And a UFC octagon on the White House lawn is always a classy look. He will have to find a way to extract himself from the unnecessary war he started with Iran, but given his measured style, he should be able to do that without getting egg on his face. I do have some concerns with his new DNI choice. Given Pulte’s level of experience in that field, I think my brother would have been a better choice, as he actually worked as a security guard at one point in his youth.

I have not taken a deep dive into celeb news lately. I know Kim Kardashian is dating a race car driver and that Britney Spears has a new hairdo, but everybody knows that. I did learn that Kyle Cooke and Amanda Batula did not have sex for four years during their marriage. This was revealed during “Summer House” season 10 reunion. Since these people don’t even make the D list, I am a bit perplexed as to why I’m even reporting it. Sometimes I grasp for content. The real news is that Justin Bieber was hanging out in Millbrook, NY early last month, around the same time as I was there. Sadly, we did not cross paths.

I saw an article in SFGate about the possibility of using cannabis for weight loss. I believe that is a non-starter for some folks, like one of my gal pals that can eat a plate of brownies after a couple tokes. And there was a feature in the NYT discussing alternate uses for GLP-1. It may help with "everything from arthritis to addiction to migraines". It sounds like one medicine fits all. I wonder if it can do anything for these pesky calluses I have on my big toes.

I have to make a correction on my last post.  The NYC hoops court I referenced is at 6th Ave. and W. 4th, not W. 3rd. If I had been there 50 years ago, I could have shown off my 360º slam.