It almost felt a little crisp out on Friday morning, though when Aimee and I went hiking today, it was anything but chilly, so I guess calling summer over is a bit premature. We’ve been keeping busy, but happy to have a little more down time these days than during our hectic summer.

Aimee had her first full week of school, and we took it easy this week, though we did try one new thing: trivia at a new bar. After the sad demise of our quiz night of more than a year and a half, we’ve been at a loss for what to do since. We found a place, closer to work and home, that has trivia on Tuesdays at 7:00, and gave it a shot this week. We were only four instead of our usual six, but we had a good time, and will probably go back. It’s a completely different system, a little more stressful (bidding points on how confident you are with each answer), but is efficiently run, the quiz master doesn’t seem to be too much of a wannabe stand-up comedian, and hey, we got second prize, which is more than first prize at our old place. We’ll see how it goes next time; I came up with a few answers completely out of the blue, and may have used up my good trivia karma for the place a little early.

On Wednesday, I went to see Jon Brion for the first time at the new, 1000% less intimate Largo at the Coronet. He was performing with Nels Cline from Wilco, and it was a great show, with Nels out-weirding even Jon Brion, which is a tough thing to do. Sebastian Steinberg showed up with his metal upright bass, which Brion proceeded to “play” as if it were a percussion instrument, sitting on the floor while Steinberg plucked his bass line. They ended with two lengthy Neil Young covers, which is just about right for a Jon Brion show, I guess.

Last night, we saw Tony Bennett at the Greek, and it was a terrific show. 82 years old or not, it was a great performance, full of energy and good humor. He sang a wonderful collection of American standards, reminding you for a moment, especially in the midst of a political season in which I cannot comprehend the voting preference of fully half of this country, that our country has created beautiful, amazing, timeless works of creative art, and we are lucky to be able to enjoy them as interpreted by a legend from Astoria, Queens. I’m not sure why the appreciation of the music came to me in those terms, but for a moment, it did. And Bennett got the biggest cheer of the night shouting “Vote Obama!” as he ended “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and began “The Best is Yet to Come.”

Today, I had a good morning run, after which Aimee and I enjoyed a nice hike to Switzer Falls in the Angeles National Forest. It was a nice hike, even a little strenuous in the mid-day sun, and it felt good to get out and about again.



More photos here.

Tonight, I’m off to see the Pigeon Detectives, a UK band no one here seems to have heard of but whose first album I think is terrific. They’re playing at Spaceland, where I missed them once before a few months back. Now, having been to Largo on Wednesday and the Greek on Friday, I’m warming up for that one week I hope to someday plan where I see a concert at a different L.A. venue seven nights in a row. My problem is that I’d like them to all be shows I actually want to see, which makes it a little tough. The Troubadour, the Hollywood Bowl, the Greek, Largo, the El Rey, Spaceland, the Fonda…that’s seven right there, so there’s no shortage of great venues. One of these days…