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

It’s been a wonderful year, and we Griegos have a lot to be thankful for.  Joey and Gracie are both doing well in school.  Joey has excelled in sports, winning the all-star tournament with his team.  Gracie succeeded in her audition for the Playhouse 395 production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” that will begin production in January.  My job seems to be secure in a bad budget year for California, and Karen is working two part time jobs and her bosses are nice people.  Things have been going pretty well for us, and we are thankful.
For Thanksgiving, we had Karen’s parents over, her sister and nephew Dean, and my mom, too.  We had a great meal, and it was good to have everyone over.  I hope your Thanksgiving holiday was as nice, and that your holiday season is as blessed as ours.

Joe Griego

Okay, so it’s not exactly the Pulitzer prize. Yet. But, Gracie submitted a book to the local bookstore in Bishop (Spellbinder Books) and her entry won first place! She was rewarded with fabulous gifts and prizes, among which were congratulatory hugs from mom and dad, and a five dollar gift certificate to Spellbinder Books. I’m sure that phone call from the president will be coming any time now…

Her book was titled, “Fairy Girl and the Evil Dragon.” It’s a compelling read, chronicling the adventures of a fairy (who happens to be a girl) and her epic battle against an evil dragon. There’s beauty, drama, and a little fairy magic to boot. I’m sure Gracie would be happy to autograph a copy for you if you ask…

Congratulations, Gracie!

Joe Griego

On Sunday, Joey and I headed down to Los Angeles to take in the MLS Cup final.  I figured it might be a while before the MLS Cup is held in Los Angeles again, so Karen bought tickets for us, the Molinas, the Pratts, and the Alexanders.  It was a good match, even though no western teams were in the final.  It was the New York Red Bulls versus the Columbus Crew.  Columbus took it, 3-1, in a pretty good match.  We had great seats, just below the ESPN booth, where we got to see Lexi Lalas and Julie Foudy call the match for television.

You can click on the image above to get photos of the trip.

Joe Griego

It’s been three years in the making, but the Bishop U12 Boys have been crowned champions in the Kit Carson Shootout AYSO All-Star tournament.  Three years ago, Joey traveled to Carson City for his first all-star game, and his team lost in the semi-final to Carson Valley.  The next year, they made it into the final championship game, but lost in a heartbreaker when South Lake Tahoe scored in the final minute to take the win 1-0.  But this year, it was different.  Joey’s team dominated every game, scoring sixteen goals in four matches, and conceded only a single goal, to South Lake Tahoe in the opening game, which they won 2-1.  They went on to defeat the Sparks Scorpions 5-0, and destroyed Carson Valley 6-0.  The championship match was against a tough team from Truckee, but they won it going away, with a final score of 3-0.

Joey scored six goals, followed by his teammates Chris Molina and Elijah Alexander with five goals each.  The defense was rock-solid, with Nathaniel Pratt, Alejandro Sanchez, and Joseph Domke providing an impenetrable shield for goalkeeper Daniel Martinez.  The midfield was dominated by Jose Mendez, Alex Gonzales, Owen Richman, and Elijah Alexander.  Chris Molina, Joey Griego and Alexis Barajas just bombarded the opposition with precision strikes all weekend.

You can click on the image above to view the gallery of photos, but BE WARNED!  I have a new camera (a Canon Digital Rebel XT), and I took over 400 snapshots!  So be prepared to browse a lot through the gallery.  They’re pretty high resolution pictures, so please feel free to copy or order prints from the online links, if you wish.

Congratulations to coaches Greg Alexander, and Jeff Pratt on the best U12 team I’ve ever seen.  Great work, and I’m so proud of our Bishop boys!

There’s also an article in the Nevada Appeal newspaper here: Kit Carson Shootout Largest Ever

Also, look for a link to an upcoming article in the Inyo Register, our local newspaper.  They’re linked here at the Inyo Register website.

Joe Griego

It’s not a matter of race. It’s a matter of Dr. King’s dream, come true. When a man is judged by the content of his character, and not by the color of his skin, then equality has arrived.

This generation has moved farther than I had hoped to see in my lifetime, and it’s a good time to be alive. Share and enjoy!

Joe Griego