The tele...

Wow, for not watching TV for the greater part of the past year, I sure am enjoying the Emmy Awards. For some reason, cooking food for the week and watching celebrities be themselves and have a good time is a fairly good way to spend time for one evening. So, Celebrities are the theme for this blog (Wait, have my blogs had themes? Maybe...)

First of all, I was inspired to start this blog because of the of the Best Mini-Series or Movie category. A person I actually know was up for an Emmy: writer Kirk Ellis for the TNT Mini Series "Into the West." He is a fantastic supporter of the Desert Chorale, and has a great home theatre! His show didn't win, but I added it to my Netflix queue (along with the winner in the category Elizabeth I).

Now, as I mentioned to some of you, I have to mention a celbritiy sighting I had this summer. Of course, this isn't the first celebrity sighting I've had in Santa Fe (Selma Hayek, Kevin Kline, Harrison Ford to name a few), but this is by far the best! And it's because of Kirk Ellis! So, as I noticed while hanging out with Emilie and Angie at Kirk's guest house/office (where they were staying for the summer), Kirk was working on a screenplay about John Adams. Well, he announce that the project was greenlighted to start shooting in 2007 (according to IMBd the project is going to be directed by Tom Hanks), and Michael is hopping to get a part as southern boy! Well, we all know that the most popular book about John Adams was by the great writer David McCullough, and I met him twice! Well, Kirk brought him to a Cameo Performance at Loretto Chapel, where I got to shake his hand and greet him. Then, a few nights later, at the Desert Chorale cabaret, he approach Randy and I, and told us how much he enjoyed our performance.

So there you go here's an old pic for you to enjoy:

Christopher and Bernie Brewer! Go Brewers!

The New Wall! (w/ bonus)

School has started, and it wouldn't be a new semester without undergrads at the U of A riding mechanical bulls covered in what I'm pretty sure is a real cowhide (you can probably catch the rest of the cow, or something similar at your local carnivorous restaurant.)


Yes, so this picture was taken last Sunday when Kat and I took a bike ride . It was fun, and I've exercised every day since (not a feat, I know, but I feel good about it, so why shouldn't I brag!). However, I had a flat tire today on my bike, so I must do some investigating. Below: Kat enjoying the cooler Tucson evening; and a sunset from the Mall on Campus.


So, the purpose of this post: I woke up this morning to a strange scraping sound. Now, this is better then the jackhammers and pounding I would wake up to last May, but it still inspired me to get out of bed this morning a 6 a.m. to investigate. What did I find? I discovered that two workers were laying cinder blocks. Yes! The wall was under construction! When I returned home on my flat tire (which I filled before riding home, it held up quite well, thank you), the Wall was finished. I rejoiced, and then made dinner (more on my questionable diet choice later).


So there you have it... School, wall and.... the bonus.

For the two or so of you how read this and are fans of Sufjan Stevens, check out this video of him performing a duet with David Byrne (Talking Heads). See it and read about the event at sterogum. Enjoy!

The Bathroom Reader...A Typewriter Story

So Chris has this old typewriter, and his powerbook is in a federal postal service compound in Seattle (long story). So he decided to type a letter, a letter to me, intended to be a bathroom reader. I know this explanation is not sufficient, but it is the best that I can do for now. So he was typing a letter, a bathroom reader, and Christine kicked him out of the apartment, because it was annoying. So he went to a coffee shop, and strangers confronted him conversing about typewriter ribbons. At one point he even fascinated a little girl. She didn't know what the instrument was. She remarked, "It's like a computer, but you get the results right away."

So the coffee shop closed, and Christopher went to a bar, but after ordering a beer and continuing his typing, the bartender asked him to stop. He was disturbing the customers. With his typewriter.

I love you Christopher... Your uniqueness is grand.

Hiking Catalina State Park

Yesterday Ian and I embarked on a little adventure. Our goal: hike the Romero Canyon trail to the Romero pools and swim!!!! Sounds like a great Idea right? Well, it would have been, if powers out of our control hadn't intervened. The plan was to leave my house at 6:30, beat the heat. However, I overslept, and couldn't here my phone, which was in the kitchen, and Ian could remember which house was mine. So, after the comedy of errors and 45 minutes, we were finally on the road to Catalina State Park. It was amazing how green everything was, I hardly recognized it!

More bad news.... yes, the road through the park was closed, because they were clearing silt from the road that was washed down from the mountain during the flooding.

But did that stop us? Nope, we decided to just walk into the park. Because of the work being done on the road, Ian and I followed the wash north, crossed the wash about a 1/2 mile out and ended up at the deserted horse stables and the start of the Bridle Trail. The trail, (which is mainly used for horses) worked it's way east through the flat part of the park to the parking lot where we would have parked our cars, had we been able to get into the park! The weeds along the trail were taller then us!

See, finally at the trail head, almost 2 hours later then we planned and having already hiked about 2 miles, we considered our options. The Romero Canyon Trail goes up about 1000 feet to the pools, and were weren't sure we would make it, because the growing heat and out already diminished water supplies. However, not finished yet, we decided to see how far we could get.
The Hike was hot and uphill, but we went for about another mile and a half before we decided to start the walk back to the car. A little disappointed that we didn't get a dip in the pools, we headed out. However, when the ridge leveled out and the trail hit flat land, we decided to explore the canyon just off the trail. There was a sign indicating the "Montrose Pools", so we descended into the canyon. To our delight, the stream had enough water in it, and we were reward with a soak! You can't believe how wonderful that felt!


So, we didn't reach our goal, and the worst part was that the park road was opened by the time we walked back to the entrance. Anyway, our plan next Saturday, get up earlier, and providing the road is open, hike to the Romero Pools!

2 Reasons

Ok, This post is up for two reasons. Frist, Christopher wanted to know what that picture on the previous post was.

The truth is: I just don't know... I think it was taken on I-10 coming home from Santa Fe. We (Ken and I) were trying to get a good photograph of the sunset.

Second Reason: I Just got of the phone with Theresa, and she had no idea that Ken came to Santa Fe to visit me. She noted that I hadn't posted any photos from the end of my trip, so here are a few:

Ken and I hking the Atalaya Trial
Kimberley and I getting in Character for the Caberet.
Hiedi and I before the last Desert Chorale Concert
Oh yea, filling up the GTC with gas and getting it ready to roll!

When I returned to Tucson, I came home to discover that my back fence had been removed. Thankfully they are building a cinder block wall. Unfortunately, it also looks like they will be building a completely new stucture, which means lots of noise this fall. (Also notice the green thing with little flowers on it, I have never seen that plant so big! Boy has there been a ton of rain here in Tucson!)

Ok, that was longer then I expected.... I should be busy practicing, so I'm going to get to that. Look for a post tomorrow about my hike today!

Back in Tucson

Blah, blah, blah....

for all who like those shirts I sport from time to time, now's the time to buy, Threadless is having a $10 sale, probably not lasting very long... have fun

Ok.

Well, if, you haven't noticed, I've been busy! Dad is hear, and although I've spent a lot of my free time with him, I actually haven't seen him much in the past few days! Last night he was a good sport and had cheap New Mexican Food and went to see a movie with me and some other members of the Chorale. The previous night he came over to my casita to play hearts with Michael, Bob and I (and he won!!!!!).

Well Today is the day we perform our Gilbert and Sullivan review. It should be fun.... Even more fun will be the reception afterwards.

Here are some pics from the last week. A couple from a nice party one of the patrons hosted and the others from a hike Dad and I took up in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Enjoy!

G&S Week

Well, here we are, the wee before the SFDC Gilbert and Sullivan showcase. This translates into many hours of silly dancing and singing. Sounds like fun, huh? Well, it is! Very different then preparing for any of our other rep!

So, Dad arrived on Saturday, and we have enjoy slumming around Santa Fe. He came to the Gregorian Mass that the chorale sang on Sunday, and then we walked around the Spanish market. We all bought something, and had a great time seeing the art and the artists. It was a little warm, but worth the sweat.




Actually, going back in time, I enjoyed an awesome hike at Bandelier National Monument on Saturday. It was a bit humid, but well worth the drive and the hike. We hiked down the canyon toward the Rio Grande. The hike featured two waterfalls, and plenty of views.


Speaking of humidity and rain, check this picture of the Rillito River in Tucson. Keep in mind that this river is completely dry about 364 days a year!