We have arrived in paradise

On Monday, we woke in Santa Monica to sunshine, birds twittering, and gentle sea breezes wafting from the beach. We had a relaxed morning at Jim and Lisa's (and of course Jackson and Michael's too). Todd put a load of laundry in for cleaning. Clif made coffee. Brian and Cheryl went out to Starbuck's (much better than the swill that Clif was knocking back). Being careful not to let the marauding feral cat in that had been scratching at the doors all night, we headed to the beach for some LA sunshine. It wasn't long before Todd was flailing in the surf with a huge grin and a bit of a shiver from the freezing (I mean refreshing) water. Brian made a few romps through the surf. Clif got his feet wet. Cheryl took pictures. Afterwards, Clif and Todd jogged down the beach and under the Santa Monica pier (it's cool under there ... highly recommeded for all of you who are thinking about visiting southern California).

Eventually we made it to Venice Beach where we proceeded to scour the many shops for the perfect gift (either sunglasses or t-shirts - the only choice you have in Venice Beach). Having scoured and scored big time (we can't divulge what we bought because we haven't gotten home with the gifts yet), we decided to dine. Settling down on the lawn we discovered why our food had been so reasonably priced (and there was no line at the place).

With our bellies in rebellion, we headed back to Jim and Lisa's to pack up. Todd discovered that the cleaning ladies had been there and had been kind enough to distribute his laundry in amongst all the Bianco's clean clothes! Once he finally sorted out his stuff (hopefully he didn't pinch some of Jim's socks), we headed to our FIRST LA SHOW in Hastings.

We arrived in Hastings an hour earlier than we expected and decided the best course off action was to take a nap. Then we set up in the Hastings Library. We weren't sure if the time machine would fit being nine feet tall (NINE FEET TALL!). But, fortunately, there was one spot in the Library where the ceiling was high enough and that's where we set up the stage.

The house was packed with an unprecedented 65 people (ooooooooooooh aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh). This was a quality crowd. We had a great time. Everyone was rockin and dancing. And we had a lot of really strong feedback (piercing actually... needed to adjust Clif's mic placement). Oh yeah, the crowd liked it too.

Afterwards we headed to La Canada to our friends Brian and Cindy's happy home. We only made six wrong turns (and called Cindy for directions) ... better than past years. Then we settled in for a delightful sleep. Unlike past years, when the gray kitty sprang to life as soon as you fell asleep and spent the night dancing on Todd and Clif's faces, this year we either didn't notice or the kitty had moved on to Brian's room (which could explain why Brian was tanking up on coffee the next morning).

Tuesday morning we woke early, said our goodbyes to Brian (yep, there are two people named Brian in this a' here story) and Cindy and headed out for an LA drive through breakfast experience (not McDonalds).

Our morning show was at the Pasadena Central Library where we saw Pam and her fantastic crew. The show was open to the public and the theater was PACKED (must have been thousands even though the theater only holds 200). This small stage created new challenges - we couldn't see each other with the time machine between us! So we had to use our musical instincts, our sense off smell, and duct tape to bring it all together. The crowd was way into it. After the last tune (Moon Boot Dance ... or something like that) they were calling for an encore. However, there was a little wrinkle. It turns out there were orchestra auditions scheduled for the Theater at 11am. We learned about this plan as we were busy signing pictures for kids at 11:05am. But hey, we're professionals. So we made a quick get away from the CD table and hustled out of there in record time. The only injuries sustained in the fray were Todd's tweaked back and Brian's bashed finger. Not bad for a 10 minute break down.

To recover, we headed over for a feast at McCormick and Schmidt's (we recommend the Mojitos, Brioche and Blackened Catfish ... in that order!). Then Brian and Cheryl headed off to get gussied up for their pending wedding anniversary (14 years tomorrow). Cliff and Todd headed back to the Library, sprawled in the grass, soaked up some more sunshine, and then headed in to write this rambling blog post. That's all for now...