New Year's Eve 2010

We indulged here at the house. Steak and Lobster. Grilled vegetables and salad. Ice cold Champagne.

Happy New Year Everyone!

O Come Let Us Adore Him...

Christmas, 1957

It was blue-gray and snowy outside, inside it was warm and swirling with colored lights, smelling of pine and my father's pipe tobacco.

What is that thing my father is assembling? Looks like something that cuts wood; he liked making stuff.

My grandfather built the little manger in the background. We cast the characters of angels, baby Jesus, wise men, etc. in rubber molds using plaster of Paris that we painted when dry. The manger and its inhabitants made an appearance every Christmas. I don't know what happened to it, hopefully one of my sisters has it.

Have a merry and memorable Christmas!

C minus

Nothin' says Christmas like supper at Tom Bergin's - Fáilte!

Tom Bergin's bar and restaurant is the oldest Irish establishment in Los Angeles and holds many great and embarrassing memories for me and many of my friends. But last night was magical.

Cozy back room, fire in the fireplace. Decorations all around.

Larry with his Guinness. Sláinte mhaith!

And to top it all off, Christmas Carolers. They even sang, "Christmas in Killarney" - a carol I would have never guessed they knew, and a carol I don't think I've heard since I was 10 years old. It really was lovely!

When was the last time you visited Bergin's? One of the best bars in L.A. in my opinion - and such a great old restaurant in the back room..

Christmas in Phoenix 1961

Each year we drove from our home in Grayslake, IL to Phoenix, AZ where my grandparents had relocated...it was Route 66 all the way!

This picture is in my grandparents' living room. See the matching lamps, the bowl on the coffee table and the cylindrical lidded container (for storing cigarettes) on the end table? My grandfather made those - woodworking was his hobby. The lampshades were overlaid with my grandmother's crocheting. I've got quite a few examples of my grandfather's beautiful wood work strewn about my house. And those lamps, sans the crochet encrusted lampshades, now belong to my daughter Mindy.

On the rocking chair is my mother with my little sister Debra. On the sofa is my father reclining (you can't really see his face) with his feet on my lap while I try to read the newspaper. The leather slippers under the table are his. He was really bugging me by shaking my paper with his toe so I couldn't concentrate; no doubt it's the reason why I have a somewhat irritated look on my face. My dad always had to clown around. The leg on the far left is attached to my sister Cathy the Dragon - one of the better pictures of her that I have in my possession.

I loved visiting my grandparents, but they lived in the retirement community of Sun City so I had a lot of idle time on my hands. This was the beginning of my voracious reading habit and it was also where I secretly purchased my first "racy" paperback and read it by flashlight at night. I felt pretty sophisticated after that particular Christmas.

Autumn in Los Angeles

Winter arrives next week, but today it's Autumn. This house is around the corner from ours and on my way to work the other morning I was so taken with the beautiful colors that I stopped my car and snapped a picture. See? We really do have seasons here in Los Angeles - sometimes.

Merry Christmas Maybe

My twin grandsons, Rowan and Grant, spent the night last Friday night. We invited over their pal Sofia from across the street who is the same age and goes to their school. They had a blast decorating the Christmas tree and singing Christmas carols. I played lots of Christmas music, including my favorite "Merry Christmas Baby". Next morning the boys kept singing over and over, "Merry Christmas Maybe"! I finally sat them down and told them that the lyrics are actually "Merry Christmas Baby". They said, "Oh, are you sure?" Yes, I'm sure.

Charles Brown and me at the 1996 Long Beach Blues Festival. One of the most elegant blues guys I've had the pleasure of working with and the original and most beloved performer of "Merry Christmas Baby".

What the hell is this?

I follow Todd Levin on Twitter and he showed us this album cover with the following comment:

As you grow older, all of your guile is stripped away. This is what the end of that process looks like.