My sister Rose and her partner Kim came to visit us this week, and we had a blast! We celebrated a “second Christmas” and the kids got to open more presents, so that was fun. Rose took the kids sledding on Tuesday, and then she dropped by and we went to lunch afterwards. Click on the pics to see the gallery of pics from their visit.
There are also pics of the kids opening presents and such. Joey got a goofy lucha libre mask, some Techdecks, and remote control helicopters that you can battle! Gracie got some nice clothes and a wonderful scooter for her American Girl doll. I sure do miss having Rose around – I wish she and Kim lived a lot closer…sigh. It was great to see them, though.
Joe Griego
We had a beautiful white Christmas this year in Bishop. The kids had some trouble sleeping last night, but they eventually hit the sack, giving Santa a chance to put some presents under the tree. Joey and Gracie didn’t get us up *too* early. We probably ended up getting up for presents about 7 o’clock, which isn’t too bad, I suppose. It was snowing pretty hard most of the morning. We went for a walk with Mochi about noon-ish, and after we got back, it started snowing again.
We had a wonderful Christmas morning, and the kids had a blast. Gracie loved her Nintendo DS (with Nintendogs game), and Joey loved the Adidas Euro 2008 Championship match ball and the Leatherman Skeletool he got from his Grandpa.
I hope you had as nice a Christmas morning as we had here in Bishop. The snow is slowly falling, the fire is warm, and our family is healthy, happy, and together. (Click on the photo to view the gallery of Christmas morning photos)
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Joe Griego
So Gracie sang tonight at the Christmas Eve service at First United Methodist here in Bishop. She sang beautifully, and looked awfully cute, too. Gracie sang “The Advent Song” and it went quite well, I think. She started off a little soft, but was belting it out by the end.
The Lanane family also sang, and Diana Lanane did a wonderful solo performance of “Oh Holy Night.” Click on the picture to see the gallery of pics.
Merry Christmas!
Joe Griego
SACRAMENTO, CA—Activists on both sides of the gay marriage debate were shocked this November, when a typographical error in California’s Proposition 8 changed the state constitution to restrict marriage to a union between “one man and one wolfman,” instantly nullifying every marriage except those comprised of an adult male and his lycanthrope partner. “The people of California made their voices heard today, and reaffirmed our age-old belief that the only union sanctioned in God’s eyes is the union between a man and another man possessed by an ungodly lupine curse,” state Sen. Tim McClintock said at a hastily organized rally celebrating passage of the new law. But opponents, including Bakersfield resident Patricia Millard—who is now legally banned from marrying her boyfriend, a human, non-wolfman male—claim it infringes on their civil liberties. “I love James just as much as a wolfman loves his husband,” Millard said. “We deserve the same rights as any horrifying mythical abomination.” On the heels of the historic typo, voters in Utah passed a similar referendum a week later, defining marriage as between one man and 23 wolfmen.
Yes, we love The Onion.
Joe Griego
Every year, Round Valley Elementary hosts the Ken Baker Invitational basketball tournament. This year, Joey decided to play basketball for Round Valley, and so this was his first experience with basketball in a tournament. He played last year for the Paiute reservation league, but he hadn’t played basketball for the school league.
The tournament itself was pretty big, by elementary school standards. Teams came to Round Valley from Lone Pine, Big Pine, Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, and Lee Vining. Sadly, the Round Valley Bobcats were pretty outclassed, and failed to win a game. But, they fought hard, and played well, if not successfully enough for a win. I guess it’s time to put up that hoop in the driveway so Joey can practice it. He’s mostly just waiting for spring soccer to start, but basketball will keep him in shape until it’s time for soccer again…
Just click on the picture to go to the photo gallery.
Joe G.
The Nerves - One Way Ticket
So, I was in a retro music mood today, and found a song that just got into my head. You know how that works – sometimes a tune gets in there, and you keep humming it. Not in an annoying way – I really like this song. But it’s one I hadn’t heard before. It’s by a band called “The Nerves.” They were a three-piece from Los Angeles, and they put out an EP (anyone younger than 30 probably doesn’t even know what an EP is!) and that was it. But, they were influential beyond the band’s existence. It was made up of Paul Collins, Jack Lee, and Peter Case. Paul Collins went on to form “The Beat” (later renamed “The Paul Collins Beat” to avoid lawsuits and confusion with the ska band “The Beat” from England). Jack Lee wrote “Hanging On The Telephone” which was covered by Blondie on their Parallel Lines album, and became a hit for them. Pete Case formed The Plimsouls, one of my very favorite bands from my high school days.
Anyway, there’s a song on a newly released Nerves album called “One Way Ticket” that I played, and really enjoyed. It’s a low-fi affair – just a mono recording made for a demo tape, and is only vocals and a guitar. You can hear all three of them singing. Anyway, it’s called “Many Roads To Follow.” I’m linking to the MP3 file on this server, so just click on the link, or the little “Play” icon to the left of the link, then share and enjoy…
Joe Griego
