This newsletter covers the April and May of 2002.
It was released to an unsuspecting world on May 27th, 2002.
May
is almost over, and it feels like time for a new diatribe - there’s certainly
been lots happening since the last newsletter in March, and it won’t be too
long before we’re back in the UK on our annual ‘friends, family and folk
festival’ trip – so now is probably a good time to take stock.
But where to start? General stuff again, I think. The business climate seems to be continuing to improve, if slowly. WhiteCross has managed to close some new business deals in the UK and the US, which has given Lynne and me enough confidence to begin the process of extending our US visas to give us 2 more years here. Hope this all works out, we both feel like we’re at the point where we’ve made contacts here and we’re just ‘settled in’ – so 2 more years here would be most welcome (plus we want to see how the garden matures – like us, it too has become well established in the last year, and it’s starting to look good).
Over
the last few weekends we’ve been doing our ‘SF tour guide’ bit for visitors
Adrian and Linda and (a different) Linda and Paul – despite having done some of
the touristy things many times now, I have to say I still enjoy showing ‘SF
virgins’ around – it’s a great place to just wander around, and the weather
helped by being kind to us. Great times hitting the usual high spots (Twin
Peaks, Marin Headlands) and low dives (The Saloon, Lou’s Blues Bar) as well as
just wandering the streets. By the way Ade, I think the guitar needs tuning
again – you’d better come back and redo it for us.
Other
recent visitors were Michele’s pal Erica and Lynne’s UK-based daughters (though
by now they are experienced San Franciscans) – Jennie who was here for a week
to do some shopping prior to taking up her new job on the QE2 (If you’re
reading this Jen, have a great time and don’t forget to keep a diary – you too
can send newsletters for us all to read with our cocoa – Mum), and Claire
who’s still with us, taking a couple of months in San Francisco before
returning to the UK to begin her vet course at Bristol Uni. Claire’s been doing
volunteer work 3 days a week at the SF zoo – we’re not sure whether the parrots
will be talking in a Brit accent or Claire will be saying “Who’s a pretty boy
then?” in an American accent by the time her stint there ends. Claire’s bloke
Bill was also here for a couple of weeks at the start of her stay, and while
everyone was in town we managed to cram in a quick weekend trip to the Grand
Canyon.
Quick, perhaps… but amazing nonetheless.. we flew into
Phoenix, rented a 7-seater minivan for the duration, then drove up to Flagstaff
which we’d decided to use as a base for the 2 days. The trip up was an
adventure in itself, driving northwards (and upwards – Flagstaff is 7,000 feet
above sea level) through 
deserts
filled with those big (cartoon-style) saguro cacti, then stopping off to look
at some old native American cave dwellings.. then ending up driving through
Sedona and Oak Creek Valley into Flagstaff. Sedona was a revelation – I’d never
heard of it but apparently it was revered by the old American Indians for it’s
magical properties – and today it’s home to many ‘new age’ healing centers,
alternative religions, shops etc. The scenery is stunning – huge red rock
outcrops, with multicoloured layers.. and it did feel rather eerie driving
through there.
And then there was the Grand Canyon itself – here are
photos but no pictures or video can do justice to this place.
We took a 1 hour sightseeing trip over the Canyon in a small Cessna plane – unfortunately it was
a bit windy that day, and so the flight was rather bumpy… perhaps those big
breakfasts at the hotel weren’t such a good idea after all. Despite all that,
the views were amazing and the flight gave us a real impression of the scale of
the place.
On
the morris dancing front, it’s that busy time of year with various May
celebrations and summer fairs, so most weekends until the end of June have dance-outs
scheduled. The BerkMos have done a lot of sessions (including some Maypole
dancing) in Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Walnut Creek and returning to the Jack
Russell Brewery up in Placerville, and have extended their Maypole dance
repertoire to include the ‘Spiders Web’ effect (sometimes intentionally).
Pics here.
Lynne
got chance to play with our friends Apple Tree Morris up in Sebastopol at
the Apple Blossom Fair in April – their regular musician had a family emergency
so Lynne was asked to stand in. A great parade, and a jolly day was had by all.
Lynne also had a trip down to L.A. in April for this year’s West Coast Ale, so
over to her for some words about that..
The
West Coast Ale was hosted by Sunset Morris of Los Angeles at a scout/guide camp
in Ventura, to the north - a beautiful wooded setting. This year Dave let me
out alone so I couldn't sit back and let him do all the worrying. I was able to
combine the the trip with a visit to friend and ex-colleague Steve, who kindly
picked me up from the airport and gave me a whistle-stop tour of his home and
neighbourhood. Thanks, also, Steve, for allowing me to borrow your truck to
drive up to Ventura when we all realised that it would be further than you
could take me for the evening...! Navigating the Los Angeles freeways was
definitely an 'experience' - as was missing a freeway exit on my way back the following
evening and almost ending up in Santa Barbara, but that's another story...
Most
of Berkeley Morris attended so we had an impressive turn out for the dance
tours. I had been elected 'Tour Queen' so my main task was to make sure all the
Berkmos were back on the bus after each of our stops. I don't think I lost
anyone, though, come to think of it I haven't seen Mark lately...
For you non-morris dancing types, the West Coast Ale is a weekend of dance and socialising, organised by one of the West Coast Morris sides for any other Morris side who wants to come. The format seems to be:
Friday evening: - meet up with people from other dancing sides you haven't seen for ages. Drink. Dance.
Saturday: - breakfast, coach tour with other sides. Dance.
Picnic lunch. Dance. Back to campsite. Dinner. Drink. Dance. Crash out.
Sunday: - drag yourself out of bed. Pack up. Breakfast. Last
dancing at lunchtime at a local hostelry, before bidding farewell and wending
your way home.
I
don't really want to dwell too much on this Year's May Morning, since the
festivities were largely over by the time we arrived! A salutary lesson in
being too blasé about knowing where places are and therefore not taking any
driving directions.
Dave
and I duly left the house at about 5 in the morning and then spent two hours
driving around the Berkeley hills having missed the vital turning that would
have taken us straight to Inspiration Point, both convinced that since we'd
done it easily and successfully last year, it wouldn't be a problem to find. We
saw the sunrise from several different angles around the Berkeley Hills - not
quite what we had in mind - and arrived in time for the last dance. Apologies
to the Berkmos and assembled audience, since I had volunteered to make the
cakes and had them, ready and waiting, in the car.
Anyway,
enough of that - I'm sure it will rekindle sparks of a similar Hereburgh May
morning in the days when I was commuting between home and Bracknell every day,
and slept clean through the alarm, arriving at Chesterton Windmill in time to
meet everyone walking back down the hill....
But
enough of my failures. The rest of the day was an absolute treat. Breakfast a
Lori's house, a walking tour of Berkeley University campus. Beautiful weather
and a most appreciative audience. We might have made a 'slight' faux-pas dancing outside the library, but we moved on
very obligingly when asked! We went to The Great American Music Hall to see the
Kate Rusby Band (Kate, husband John McCusker and Andy Cutting) supporting Altan
in the evening, so it turned out to be a VERY long day.
Of
'other stuff': I'm almost finished with the project I have been doing for
Whitecross. It's been most enjoyable and has enabled me to keep my hand in.
I've
also done some helping out at the Sailing Club. They've recently acquired a
computer and associated software for the office at the new clubhouse, and
Joyce, the club manager, was keen to get it set up so that she could access her
email from there as well as from home. I spent a very enjoyable couple of days
getting it connected to telephone lines, fax/printer machines and setting the
software up so that she can perform all those office functions.
In
amongst all those other things, I'm making efforts to 'stay healthy'. Latest
attempts are the yoga classes run in the gym we've joined. I must admit that I
enjoy these more than doing weights and cycling, but I suspect that I need do
both (as well as eating less) if I'm to lose the 35 lbs I could well do
without!
The
Bay Area Country Dance Society have been trying out a series of 'English
Ceilidhs' and I have played along at a couple of them in a sort of 'scratch
band'. These have been held in local church halls. In April, however, they
decided to try one at a different venue - the well-known Ashkenaz Hall in
Berkeley (see www.ashkenaz.com for more
info). This is a special-purpose dance/concert venue hosting dances of all
nationalities. I was invited by a Morris-dancing friend to be part of a band
for the occasion. We'd played together as a band once before at one of the
church hall ceilidhs. Having agonised over and discarding various band-name
possibilities, we were eventually forced to go with a temporary 'working' title
of MoSoCo (Mostly Sonoma County) band until we could agree on a more permanent
one that we all liked (ever get that feeling of deja vu?). Happily, I'm now
relieved to announce that we will henceforth be known as Cunning Plan (seems we
have some BlackAdder fans - or could it be a play on our previous attempts at
smart titles...?)
Dave
here again… don’t know why they just didn’t call themselves “The artistes
formerly known as MoSoCo”…. seemed to work for Prince. On a similar topic,
Lynne’s also been asked to put together a band to play for the English ceilidh
workshop session at next month’s San Francisco Free Folk Festival. The current
plan is for Lynne and me to get together with Claire (using our wizzy new
electric piano) to do this. Tentative name for this band is (of course) ‘Too
many Cookes’.
The Treasure
Island Yacht Club continues it’s expansion with a full calendar of events both
on and off the water – see the TIYC website for latest
sailing news. We’ve been involved in some events and also got to do some sailing
recently – taking part in the first of 6 Inter-club races in April where we
crewed on the Compass Rose, a Catalina 36 owned by the club commodore. We were
first across the line in our class, but 3rd after handicaps were
applied. Looking forward to more of these races! We also were aboard the Compass Rose for the ‘Opening Day on the Bay’
parade of decorated ships – a great day, with even the local sea-lions jumping
out of the water to take a look at the boats.
Musically
it’s been the usual mix of local and visiting celtic bands.. Old Blind Dogs,
Altan, Kate Rusby, the Waybacks, and Danu and The Fenians at O’Reilly’s
Guinness and Oyster festival. Ade and I went to the Saloon and saw local blues
guitar hero Johnny Nitro with a ’big band’ of about 10 musicians, which was fun. And
a special ‘thanks’ to Andy Cutting, who despite being at the end of a long tour
with Kate Rusby, still had the enthusiasm and energy to come over to Berkeley
and do a workshop session on his ‘night off’ (thanks also to BerkMo muso Laura
for persuading Andy this was a good idea!).
A
couple of other notable events – the annual K-FOG KA-BOOM fireworks display
once again marked an anniversary for Lynne and me in spectacular style – it
also gave us an excuse to invite folks over to Treasure Island for a little
bash which turned into (yet another) music session – seems to be a trend
forming here. Final thing to mention is the show we saw last week called
L’Universe (say it out loud) done by the Flying Karamazov Brothers – ace
jugglers, musicians and comedians – see their website at www.fkb.com for more info. This show featured
some ‘conventional’ juggling, but also clever stuff involving hi-tech additions
to make some interesting effects - for example clubs which changed colour in
mid-air depending on their position over the stage. Plus the amazing
‘Jugglatron’, a cross between a drum kit and synthesizer which is played by
hitting the various parts with clubs as they are juggled. I want one!
That’s
about it for now – we’ll all be heading back to the UK shortly, in June Claire
and Michele - for good this time as they both return this summer to continue
their education back home. Lynne and I will be over there for 2-3 weeks during
July-August, dates and itinerary should be finalized soon (maybe!). We’re
looking forward to catching up with as many people as possible, so might well
get chance to see you all while we’re over. Of course, one part of the trip is
already fixed - you can DEFINITELY meet up with us at Warwick Folk Festival –
we’ll be there from the Thursday night through till Monday morning.
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© Copyright Cooke-Shuttleworth Enterprises 2002