Carrara Pastries, Moorpak

Carrara Pastries

476 West Los Angeles Street 

Moorpark, CA 93021

(also at 2894 Roadside Dr.

Agoura Hills, CA, 91301)

My love affair with the cream puff began in the 60's. Like many people in the Los Angeles area that grew up between the 1930's and the 1960's, I remember the Helms Bakery truck coming down the street. It was a big deal, and if my Mom was in a good mood, she would stop the truck and have a cream puff. Since (according to Wikipedia) the Helms Bakery went out of business in 1969, my memories stem from when I was five, and so in the mists of time, the cream puff seemed to be the size of my head. My mother would have one, and I always wanted one. I was told that (like onion rings and orange juice-you'll have to ask my mother) cream puffs were 'adult food,' and I instead was allowed a donut. I don't think I ever got to try a Helms Bakery Cream Puff, and because of the way that my mother deprived me, I turned to a life of crime. Okay, not quite, but instead I look for a great cream puff.

To talk about the Helms truck for just a moment-it was yellow and black, and featured very well constructed wooden shelves on which all the baked goods would sit. When I was at UCLA, I had a friend who had a friend that rented part of the wood shop in the Helms Bakery Building in Culver City. After seeing Neil Young (in '84, I think), we went back to the Bakery wood shop, where we all drank way too much and I poked around the woodworking tools that were used to customize the trucks. 

So now, at age 50, I still think of cream puffs (as well as onion rings and orange juice) as 'adult food,' seldom buying them for myself and always fascinated with them when I see them. And what I've discovered is that most cream puffs aren't very good. The pastry has to be light and the cream can't be too sweet. When I occasionally break down and buy one at the market or a bakery, they seem a bit stale. At donut shops cream puffs are twice the cost of donuts and generally not good. 

And yet, I still search, hoping that some day I'll be grown up enough to eat and enjoy a cream puff. And of course, I'm curious as to how big the Helms Bakery cream puffs actually were. According to a few websites, everyone who remembers them says they were huge-but like me, it's hard to say how inflated things get in memory.

And how does that tie into Carrara Pastries? Don't worry, I'm getting there.

At my wedding, back in the 90's, there was a huge wedding cake. I don't remember if it was good or not-it looked nice, though, and I didn't shove cake in my wife's face. We were traditionalists, and at a wedding there is a cake, not cupcakes or pastries.

But I've been to two weddings of young people this year (younger than 33, I mean), and both had only a small wedding cake for cutting. One featured cupcakes, which were pretty good. The other, pastries from Carrara. As luck would have it, I was seated near the pastry table, and upon it, grown up food-cream puffs. When it was time to have them, I was at the table quickly. A sign said, "Please have 2 only," so I quickly zeroed in on the cream puffs on the table. 

Actually, it was a 'cream bigné, and it was delicious. A little larger than bite size, with a flakey pastry crust and cream filling that wasn't too sweet, I helped myself to my two, as well as the one of the two that was due my wife, and several uneaten ones from around the table. I believe there were four other pastries, and I tried them all, each one good, but not as good as the cream puff-oh sorry, bigné.

When the bride had a few minutes, she told me that the good people at Carrara Pastries had driven the pastries from Moorpark to the San Diego Wild Animal Park that morning for her wedding. I think I also  asked her if she had had her two pastries, because if she didn't, I had already ate them.

I made a mental note to try the pastry shop the next time that I was in Moorpark.

So recently, my daughter and I were driving by on our way to something or other, and it was time.

We entered the clean, somewhat futuristic pastry shop, and waited in a short line. There was a large case of pastries on display, along with racks behind the counter of more fresh pastries. Two large video screens would alternate between the menu and shots of various coffee drinks being prepared. And in the case were plenty of cream puffs.

My daughter and I both ordered different pastries, and I had an Americano to go with mine. I enjoyed mine, but as for my daughter, I don't think she enjoyed it as much. A twelve year old palate, I think, isn't ready for a pastry so much as it wants a ball of sugar-like a donut for instance.

And so what I discovered, along with the best cream puff I've come across in the last 30 years, is that maybe my mom was correct, and cream puffs really are grown up food.

Carrara also serves sandwiches, which looked good, salads, gelato, and a wide variety of coffee drinks.

And they also had a really cool bathroom sink.

Daily Grind, Santa Barbara

Daily Grind

2001 De La Vina

Santa Barbara, CA

2912 De La Vina

Santa Barbara, CA

I've been coming to the Daily Grind since I moved to Ventura and would find my way into Santa Barbara, shortly after they opened their door in the 90's. They have a wide variety of brewed coffees, the usual fancy coffee drinks, pastries and sandwiches. Though I've had some of the pastries, I generally just have a coffee whenever I'm driving through the area, and will detour there when I can. It's alway crowded, not that that's a bad thing, and everyone appears to be enjoying their coffee and food items. I've been meaning to write about them for some time because it's kind of a friendly, funky looking place (in the garage of an old Shell station-the Shell sign is up above the cash register) that exudes Santa Barbara character. Located on the corner of De La Vina and Mission, it's also across the street from another Santa Barbara icon, McConnell's Ice Cream, a great, premium ice cream that I've alluded to before.

Recently, I was driving to a meeting and had a few minutes to stop. As usual, there was a line and I had only a few minutes to get my coffee and be on my way. I took out my phone and quickly snapped the above picture, and then was trying to get a picture of the menu when a guy came out and started to wave. I was trying to line up my shot when I figured out what he was saying.

"No pictures. Hey, no pictures." It caught me a little off guard, and I mumbled something in return. I got in line and got my coffee, but it threw me off. So, remember, don't take pictures when you're there.

About the coffee.

They brew several types-I wasn't able to get a picture and it isn't on the website-which they keep in hot pots on the side. You pay at the register, and they'll hand you a cup. Generally, I'll try a few sips of several before making my decision, and then poor myself a cup. On this trip, the coffee I poured wasn't quite as hot as I'd've liked it-a pet peeve of mine, but it wasn't bad.

I'll continue to go back. I like to support local businesses when I can, but I won't take any pictures.

My Powerbook 540, Old Writing and a Bit of Morals

The Powerbook 540 was my first laptop. I bought it on eBay in 1999, I think, and paid probably around $150 for it. The idea was that I could write the great American novel while watching my newborn son  play in the yard. I wrote part of the article that I sold to the LA Times on it, but when I fired it up a few weeks ago, I remembered why I bought another-the screen would fade after a while, and I couldn’t use it. Plus, I was able to afford a used tangerine iBook-my favorite laptop ever.

When I bought this, I would use my desktop mostly, one of those cool looking iMac G3's that I was totally happy with. Now, the idea of being chained down to a desktop it totally foreign to me. The one desktop that gets used often in the house is the Mac that I keep in the front room with all my music stored on it-another post soon. 

All the computer work I do at home is all done on the MacBook I'm using right now, wherever I happen to be sitting in the house-or at Storbucks, or wherever else I happen to be.

I wrote the following a dozen years ago, with the hope that I could sell it to some parenting magazine or other, but I didn't . I know that I wrote a few drafts, so I think it's a pretty good piece of writing that I had completely forgotten that I had written. So, a thought from 2002, back before the blogging world. 

2/22/02

I am pretty clear on my basic moral beliefs, and have every intention of passing them on to my children. When my first child, a son, was born last year, I felt tha I would be a good role model. I know that I want to teach my son to not steal, not be mean, not do drugs, and other things that are, I think, no brainers for most parents.

But a year after my son’s birth, I find that little things I do every day cause me to think a great deal about the examples I set for my child. I relate my actions to the actions of my parents, and what I want to teach my son.

A few months ago, I bought a water host from a large chain home improvement store. It was late, and I misplaced the hose in my garage. When I couldn’t find the hose the next day, I assumed that I left it in the shopping cart, and went back to the store with my receipt to see if I could get another. I talked to a clerk, who said that she couldn’t help me, but that she’d call a manager. The manager listened to about half my story, and then said to just take another one. When I put the second hose in the garage, I went right to the spot where I left the first hose.

My first thoughts were that I bought a tone of stuff from that store, that the store was a long drive from my home, that there was no paperwork on the second hose, and that the store would make it’s money back on me from the other stuff that I have bought, and will buy from that store. It’s not really stealing, I thought to myself, because the second hose was given to me. Though I know some people would have taken the hose right back, I aslo knew that just as many people would have just kept the hose, as I would have done in my pre-father days.

I believe that my parents did the best that they knew how to do, and that most of my growing up was a positive experience. Still, there were times that my parents didn’t think things all the way throught

I thought about what my own parents would have done, and remembered being on vacation when I was young. My mother found an expensive camera in a bathroom at Yellowstone Park.  After waffling for a while, she finally decided to keep it. My mother tried to take pictures with it, but when she developed the film, the pictures came up out of focus. The other pictures, thopugh, came out fine, with smiling people enjoying their vacation.

My parents never were able to work that camera, and after a few rolls, they gave up and never used the camera again.

Over twenty-five years have passed, and for some reason that event snuck into my mind while I looked at the free water hose in my garage. With the lost camera, someone was hurt, at least a little, by our actions. With the hose, no one was hurt really, except some faceless corporation who would write off the $10 loss in a ledger someplace.

But as I looked at it, I thought of the example that I want to set for my son.

I know that I don’t always know how to do the right thing. I know that in my youner days, I would purposely do the wrong thing just because. But now my little boy is watching me. I don’t know when his awareness begins, but I know that I better act like it’s already begun.

So after four days and some lost sleep, I took the hose back. I handed it back to the same clerk who handed it to me. She looked rather surprised and wasn’t sure what to do with the hose I returned. After a second, she recovered and thanked me. I asked that she tell the manager that gave me the hose also. I didn’t want him to think he was taken advantage of.

I set the example for my son that I wanted to set, though it took my a few days to do it. My son doesn’t know, and I may not remember to tell him the story, but it’s a good thing for him-and a good start for me.

Smogies and Ventura Water Store

Smogies Smog Shop
3940 Market Street
Ventura CA 93003

Ventura's Water Store
1455 S. Victoria Ave.
Ventura Ca

 At some point, you have to register your car, and when you do, every two years it needs a smog check. I'm not sure why I went to Smogies the first time, though I believe it was recommended by someone, and they got my car in and out quickly. I don't really know if it's more or less, but they seem to be quick, and every time I've been in, I've been engaged in some sort of unusual conversation, either by Smogie or his son.

The last time I was in, and I wish I'd taken a picture, but I saw that they had a Cremated Remains Disposer license by the counter. I was waiting for my car, and I had to ask. The son then explained to me that Smogie's was branching out.

He said that the cost of the equipment used for smog tests had been coming down, and more garages were able to handle smog checks. His dad had done some reading, and discovered that more people were being cremated. But once cremated, what does one do with the ashes? The brainstorm then hit, and Smogies can now also disperse your loved ones' remains.

I was caught off guard, and didn't think to ask the name of the business-I didn't think 'Smogie's Ashe Disposer,' was very appealing, and so if you need your ashes disposed, you'll have to call them yourself-clink the link above. The son said that they'll dispose of your loved ones out at sea, and video the process if you're unable to attend. Simply mail the remains to them, and they'll take care of the rest. Call them first, though.

I've never owned a business, and so the idea of small business diversification is novel to me, but it did make sense. If you need this type of service, or your car smogged, or both at the same time, Smogie's can handle it.

Ventura's Water Store also does more than it should, and actually was one of the first places I thought about when I started writing the blog. Along with selling purified water, they also have the best shaved ice in town, and it's just a buck.

I was first introduced to shaved ice by a girlfriend in Sacremento. I'd had snow cones before, but didn't care for them. Shaved ice is different. If the ice is shaved correctly, it should have texture similar to snow. When it is shaved that way, it holds the flavor of the syrup, instead of turning into one sugary colored fluid at the bottom. When I had shaved ice for the first time, in the middle of a Sacramento summer, I thought I was in heaven. And every trip to Hawaii, where shaved ice is an art form, I've always had at least one a day. 

The shaved ice at Ventura's Water Store is just about the right texture so it holds it's flavors pretty well. It's made from ice frozen from purified water. And, again, it's only a buck. They also have purified drinking water for $0.25 a gallon, distilled water, and will sterilize your bottle for a small fee. They offer water delivery and will sell or service your household soft water system..

But it's the shaved ice that my family goes for, especially on the hot days. And occasionally, the owner will be in and hit the kids with a snowball. In fact, I was in one day when everyone was hit with a snowball. If your driving by on a hot day, it's a bargain that I recommend.

On Turning 50

I started writing this missive back on my 50th birthday in August, but didn't finish. It was in my drafts, and I liked the original thought. I'm trying to remember where I was going in the thought process, though. Almost 4 months have passed, and I'm pretty used to being 50 now. Somehow, I was going to tie it all in to the coffee mug....



Going through one of our cupboards, I came across a Sex Pistols coffee mug that I bought during the Sex Pistols' 1996 reunion tour at the Universal Amphitheatre. It was shortly after my 33rd birthday, and I went with my sister. I remember it being one of the best concerts that I'd ever been to, with Johnny Rotten working the stage like the practiced frontman that he was, and as I think about it, only a few shows have measured up to that. (Johnny Cash at the House of Blues in on 2/26/96, playing a show that featured June Carter, Carlene Carter, Rosanne Cash, and for the encore, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, comes to mind. It was Johnny's 64th birthday). I also remember that my girlfriend was sleeping on my couch when I got home, after letting herself in through a window, which also is a good memory.

I know that somewhere I have a poster, too, but I had completely forgotten about the coffee mug. I'm not sure why I bought it-though I like coffee. I imagine that even then I got the irony of it all. I also now wonder why it isn't a tea cup. The Sex Pistols are very British, and a tea cup, I would think, would be far more appropriate.

While walking my daughter to school last week, a kid skateboarded by with a Black Flag t-shirt on. I saw Black Flag at the Olympic in 1981, and as the kid skateboarded by, I commented to my daughter, who looked to be about the same age, that I saw Black Flag way back when. My thought was that if I were wearing a shirt from a band that was big 32 years prior when I was in, say, high school, that would have meant that I would be wearing a t-shirt celebrating Dinah Shore, Kay Kaiser or Nat King Cole. They are all fine artists, and I own music from Nat King Cole, but I never would have put his face on a t-shirt and worn it to school-no one would have.

Actually, this would make a good shirt!

Elvis died on my 14th birthday. I remember Elvis alive, which now puts me in a minority, my kids only knowing Elvis from impersonators.

Madonna shares my birthday, though she is five years older. She never sends me a card, but I never send her one either.


Continuing the thought, November 29, 2013

I was going to have a huge bash on my 40th, inviting a taco guy and everyone I know, but my house was in the middle of a remodel then, and I don't recall doing much of anything.

And now, more on March 2, 2014

This year, I insisted that we be someplace on my birthday. My two older kids had commitments, and our window for vacation went by in a blink, but I insisted that I didn't want to be at home on my Birthday. Turning 50 at home had no appeal at all to me, because I knew that I would end up doing chores around the house, and I didn't want to be doing chores. My wife managed to hook us up for tickets to California Adventure, and then we went to Vegas, so my youngest and I were strolling the Strip on my 50th, the rest of the family collapsing after dinner at the Harrah's Buffet. We also saw the Mac King afternoon magic show, something that I highly recommend if you have kids and don't want to spend a fortune for a show. He's funny and family friendly, with just enough adult humor to keep everyone entertained.


So on my 50th was spent walking from the Flamingo to New York New York, where we found out that my youngest was still too short to ride the roller coaster. I expected her to have a full on melt down, but actually, she was okay. So we went to the M & M Store, and the Coca Cola store, and with a bag of M & M's and the amazing Coca Cola sample tray.

And it was my youngest that was with me. I don't know what to say about that beyond, I hope it's a good memory for her, because it will always be a good memory for me. And when I turn 60, it's probably be the two of us again.

Pizza Rev, Oxnard

Pizza Rev

1831 Rose Ave

Oxnard, CA 93030

The idea seems like a good one, and I've been there a half dozen times already. It's simple, get your crust, pick your toppings, and away you go.

The thing I like about Pizza Rev is that I can add three anchovies. I like the saltiness of anchovy, but I can't handle a pizza full of them. At Pizza Rev, I ask for three anchovies, spread around the pizza. Then, I add all the other things that I like. The dining room looks like the dining area for those 'fast casual' places, meaning it's totally okay to sit in the dining room by myself reading. Most pizza places, it seems, cater to the big crowds sharing a pizza pie.

The pizza is a 9 inch thin crust. You can pick your sauce-I generally go with a white sauce-and mozzarella with a touch of feta cheese. Then you can go to town on the toppings. After your choices are complete, they slide the pizza into an open flame, stone pizza oven, bringing it to your table when finished.

Of course, they have the usual, pepperoni, olives, sausage, canadian bacon, pineapple, but they also have some fun stuff, like artichokes, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and last month's special, potatoes.

White sauce, mozzarella and feta cheese,
beef pepperoni, crispy bacon,
mushrooms, red onions, sun
dried tomato, olives, double garlic
artichoke hearts, and 3 anchovies

At $7.99, it's not bad for a small pizza with whatever you want. Add two bucks, and you can have one of the zillion soda options from the fancy soda machine.

So for me, it's great. My kids only seem to agree on canadian bacon and pineapple pizza, which is a big step up from the years of cheese and olive, but not the way I'd load a pizza up. To bring the family, it would defeat the purpose of going for pizza, which is to feed everyone for cheap. Figure $10 bucks a person, which starts to add up. And where I order all sorts of things, my kids most likely wouldn't venture beyond the basic.

Santinos, here in town, for instance, offers a family special (the best pizza deal in town) that has an extra large pizza, four salads and and drinks for just under $30, and Pizza Man Dan's has large specialty pizzas for about $22.

But, if you want something exotic that you don't have to share, Pizza Rev is a great choice, and when I feel like a pizza just the way I want it-with three anchovies-that's where I go.

They also serve salads, a dessert pizza, and have a kid's size meal.

They currently have seven locations around So Cal, with fourteen more about to open around the country soon. The Oxnard location opened a few months ago, and I think the chain has been around for just a few years.

Andy Prieboy at the Getty

When I was in high school, my Aunt gave me an EP that her boyfriend had recommended called "Wall of Voodoo" that he had told her was selling really well at the record store he worked at. I liked it-it was kind of dark and spooky, as the name "Wall of Voodoo" would imply. The version of "Ring of Fire" was pretty cool, but I was more partial to the song, "Can't Make Love." Either way, I played it often, and even ventured to the Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood in '80 or '81, and Johnny Thunders came on for an encore of "Johnny B. Goode."

At about the same time, a compilation album called "The Rising Stars of San Francisco" came out, and featured a song from a band called Eye Protection. They did a catchy, new wavish number called "Take Her Where The Boys Are," and I liked it a lot as well. Other than both bands being keyboard driven, I wouldn't say that they had much in common.

I saw Wall of Voodoo several times after, including the days following the their first LP, "Dark Continent," when I took my girlfriend to a late show at the Roxy that maybe 60 people were at, and the opening acts were a band so bad that I don't remember what they were called, and some sort of cross-dressing opera singer. "Me and My Dad," was my favorite song off of that one.

The next album (Call of the West) unleashed "Mexican Radio,"which got a great video on MTV, and made Wall of Voodoo relatively big stars. I saw the Stan Ridgeway led Voodoo for the last time at the Country Club in Reseda, in '82 or '83, in a room that was packed, leading Ridgeway to make some snarky comments about where were we all when their last album tanked. I shouted back that "I was there!"

Then Ridgeway and drummer Joe Nanini left, which I thought would kill the band. Ridgeway and Nanini seemed to have all the personality of the band, talking to each other and the audience all throughout the sets. They were fun to watch-the other guys seemed to just stand there.

While I was attending UCLA, in I think '85, Voodoo played the on-campus non-bar (UCLA was a 'dry' campus, which I remember thinking was kind of lame, since I had just turned 21), and Andy Prieboy had joined the band. Voodoo also had a new drummer, Ned Leukhardt, who played a conventional drum kit, which I didn't care for. Nanini had been more of a percussionist, playing wood blocks, trash can lids and other percussion-type items, with the rhythm coming from cheap drum machines. Still, they sounded good. Prieboy looked like a long-haired western dandy, but he had a deep, rich voice unlike Ridgeway's whine, and I remember thinking that some of the new songs were pretty catchy, especially "Far Side of Crazy."

Wall of Voodoo always had a bit of a western feel-not Nashville, but more like Ennio Morricone western soundscapes, but with Ridgeway, Voodoo sounded a bit sinister. Prieboy rocked 'em up a bit. I bought the first Prieboy led Voodoo album, "Seven Days in Sammystown," and thought the Prieboy penned songs were the standouts. This Prieboy led version of Voodoo soldiered on for a few more years, but I never purchased their final two albums.

In 1990, Tomorrow Wendy dropped on KROQ, and I thought it was a great song, in a style that I don't usually listen to. A piano based ballad, which interestingly references Kennedy the same way "Far Side of Crazy" referenced John Lennon, the song was about a prostitute dying of AIDS, still a new disease at the time. Johnette Napolitano sang back-up, and Concrete Blonde also released a version, but I don't think I ever heard it at the time. I bought the album, "...upon my wicked son," and found that all the songs appealed to me, though I think the word play of "Maybe That's Not Her Head" is what I really enjoyed. (Did I just see her nod her head/Is that not her head?/Did she nod her head?/It could be someone else instead/Maybe that's not her head! I thought I'd know her anywhere/Those beautiful eyes and flaxen hair/That must be her, I could swear/But maybe that's not her head).

"Maybe That's Not Her Head" was indicative of the style that Prieboy would begin to pursue. It's a mini-opera of sorts, a music hall song which conjures up images of performers on a tiny stage working Shakespearean type word-play to get laughs and keep the show moving.

I saw Prieboy doing a solo show at Bogarts, a small club in Long Beach. For reasons lost in the mists of time, I didn't bring the girlfriend I had at the time, but instead brought her cousin's Hungarian girlfriend, who was staying with me before I drove her to Berkeley to stay with her boyfriend. English was actually her third language, but she enjoyed Prieboy's mostly piano based performance. Prieboy was entertaining, singing songs and telling humorous stories, blasting a heckler who wanted to hear a Ridgeway-era Wall of Voodoo song and generally having a good time on stage.

Rita D'Albert

In '95, after his second album, "Sins of our Fathers," I went to see him again, playing with Rita D'Albert, who played the flute and occasionally the bass. Prieboy was dressed like a steam punk dandy, while D'Albert was in a sexy 50's pin-up fashion dress. (Different girlfriend this time, one who's grandfather played the flute in church. "Grandpa would like the flautist." Her grandfather was an 80 something retired elementary school principal, and I didn't see her being the old man's type. Her response, "He likes a pretty girl"). Prieboy had a way of working the stage, and though I didn't know it at the time, he was working on the musical, White Trash Wins Lotto. I have to admit that I spent a great deal of time staring at D'Albert, wondering how she could breath into the flute in a dress as tight and short as the one she was wearing, and how she could maneuver without giving us a different type of show.

About this time, from what I can figure, his record label, Dr. Dream Records, went belly-up, being sold to Polygram, and Prieboy seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle.

And I moved away from LA to Ventura, so though Prieboy would pop up in LA, I was busy doing other things. I did read The Psycho Ex Game, a novel he cowrote with former David Letterman writer and girlfriend, Merrill Markoe, which seems to be about the start of their relationship. According to the internet, Markoe and Prieboy live together someplace in LA.

Since I follow Prieboy on Facebook, I was alerted to the Getty show, and since I missed his summer shows, I figured free was a good price, and the Getty seems like it'd be fun. I burned an MP3 to listen to on the way down, and so my wife would have some idea as to what she was going to hear. I found my black, artsy clothes, and wrote all of the above in advance.

Prieboy

Now, I'm back from the Getty show. It was fancy schmancy, too, a great auditorium for a free show, and I'd happily go see anything that's taking place in that room. A few notes about Saturday Night at the Getty. First, and most important, the shows are free! You can reserve tickets in advance, but seats are first come first serve on the night of the show. I reserved my tickets two nights ago, arrived on this rainy Saturday evening at about 6:30 and checked in at the theatre. The lady found my name on her print out, and then asked, "Would you like good seats?" I briefly entertained the idea of asking for the worst seats in the house, something behind a pillar in the next room if possible, and then said, "Yes."

She handed me two tickets on the aisle in the second row. If I had to pick seats out for myself, these are the two that I would have picked without hesitation. The seats were situated in such a way that I looked straight at the stage, without having to look around anyone's head. They were awesome.

Since I didn't have to pay for tickets, I opted to take the wife to the Getty Restaurant, where we had some appetizers. Here's the thing-I don't go to nice restaurants all that often, and really can't think of the last time I've been to one. I knew that everything was pricey, but we were both hungry, so I figured something from the appetizer menu would tide us over, and we could eat after. I ordered the Grilled Squid and the Cheese Board, along with two sodas, which came out to $40. It was good-small portions, of course, but tasty. The room itself was very nice, darkly lit with art on the walls and a view of the city. I'd never take the kids there, but I'd like to arrive earlier and try a meal.

We finished and walked across the campus just in time, taking a program. The title of this show was Andy Prieboy-A Thousand Gorgeous Lies: A Musical Dissertation on the Inevitable Collision Course of Rock and Romance. I checked Andy's band, and it featured Tony Kinman who I saw when he was in Rank and File back in '84, and David Kendrick, Alan Myers's replacement in Devo. That seemed like a pretty solid backing band.

The program even had the set list for the show! I recognized all the songs, and noticed a couple of my Prieboy favorites, "Psycho Ex", and "Can Not Not-The Stalker Song."

Prieboy hit the stage, hamming it up for an audience of obvious fans-the auditorium was packed! Dressed in a dark, double breasted 8 button coat and amazingly skinny trousers, Prieboy had the look of a 19th Century Mad Professor. His band set up, and for the opener, a song that I hadn't heard before but seemed a great introduction-"The Same Great Guy With A Great New Look."

Playing for about 90 minutes, Prieboy told stories between songs, showed artwork from Judith Schaechter, and seemed to be enjoying himself, which is an interesting contrast to the somewhat dour nature of his songs. He also added three songs not on the set list for an encore-the big hit, "Tomorrow Wendy," and "Build a Better Garden" and a sing along version of "Joliet."

As an aside, there's a lot of Catholic imagery in Prieboy's songs, and he alluded to a Romanian Grandmother. Romanians tend to be Eastern Orthodox, which seems like Catholicism on steroids.

I was trying to figure out what appealed to me so much, because Prieboy's music is unlike what I normally listen to. After seeing him, I think it might be that though the songs are a bit down, he himself seems pretty happy. That seems to reflect my personality a bit too-generally happy with a negative side. Also, I like the style of drumming Kendricks was using, which is light on the snare and cymbals, but heavy on the tom-toms and high hat, jazzy in it's way. I know that I appreciate a good double-meaning, which seems to be in a lot of Prieboy's lyrics. And he's always been responsive to an audience-something I remember from when I first saw him 30 years ago.

Snuck this pic at the beginning of the show

Again, a solid show, and I'd go see Prieboy again, even if I have to pay money. If your a Prieboy fan, his shows are always good. If your not a fan, at least he's entertaining and not too loud.

I took the one picture that I labeled. The other two concert shots were pulled from Facebook, one with the Andy Prieboy in stained glass, and the other from up high, during the song "Build a Better Garden", which he played during the encore. I'm not sure why, but Blogger won't separate the those two pics and the one of Prieboy with glasses, so I left them where they are.

Oh, and one other quick note-This is my 100th blog post! If I were a TV show, I'd now have enough to syndicate! Thanks for reading, and respond if you find something interesting!