fishing for words

(and tossing out random thoughts)


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…a “merry” little christmas…

In the end, Christmas 2006 seemed to be destined to teach us to appreciate when our little Christmas season goes smoothly…something that I, apparently, have taken for granted for all too many years. It all started with a hectic schedule two weeks before the holiday, as Karen and Adam traveled hundreds of miles – yes, literally hundreds of miles – to various GGBC rehearsals and performances. That, in itself, did start this little snowball from, um, heck. It was the constant exposure to the Petri dish of germs that is called BART. The week before Christmas, both Adam and Karen came down with some sort of cold. Maybe it should be referred to as “The Cold that Stole Christmas.” While Adam recovered relatively rapidly, Karen descended into congestion, a sore throat and various aches and pains. We held on to the hope that she’d recover and only a few of us might head to Christmas Eve dinner. Unfortunately, Karen’s father, our gracious cook and host for Christmas Eve dinner, was admitted to the hospital, where the doctors wanted him to enjoy a turkey dinner and stay through the day after Christmas.

So, rolling with these curveballs (yes, mixing metaphors), Sean and I decided we could head to Christmas mass at 9:00 p.m. instead of trying to stay awake for midnight mass. All was good as mass started with “Joy to the World,” then the opening prayer by the pastor, who introduced his co-celebrant, who then said an opening prayer…in Vietnamese! Sean and I look at each other. But I was there, and by gum, wasn’t going to leave. Thankfully, about half of mass was in English. And it was entertaining as we were visited by “The Christmas Cat,” a feline named Gilbert by the St. Dominic’s School kids, who walked up a side isle, behind the altar, then in front of the alter to sniff at the manger scene.

I guess out travails can’t compare to that of Mary and Joseph. Merry Christmas to all!


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…and GGBC makes the radio…

Driving to work this morning, tooling along the relatively vacant roads (a bonus of the few days before Christmas), when I began to hear bells. No, not entirely isolated to my cranium…it seems that KCBS sent a reporter out to check out the Golden Gate Boys Choir, of which Adam is a part. (See previous post.) As soon as we find out if there is a podcast of this story, I’ll throw it up here. In the meantime, if you can tune into 740 AM, I’m sure that story will be run a few more times this morning, before the performance at 101 California Street in San Francisco.


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adam makes the paper

Adam and the GGBC Bellringers.

Adam and the GGBC Bellringers.

Adam, along with his fellow ringmasters, can be found in a photo in the San Francisco Chronicle today! The photo ran with an article about the Golden Gate Boys Choir and Bellringers’ Christmas season performances. Adam appears almost dead center in the picture above the article (third from the left). He’s been attending the GGBC summer camp for three years and participating with the group for just about as long, and joined the GGBC last year during its trip to Italy.  I’m not quite certain where this photo was taken. 

You can find the article on page twenty in the 96 Hours section or find it online at sfgate.com. (You can see a larger version of the picture by clicking on it.)


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for your holiday shopping pleasure

From Dave Barry’s “Christmas Shopping: A Survivor’s Guide”…

On Gifts for Children:

This is easy. You never have to figure out what to get for children, because they will tell you exactly what they want. They spend months and months researching these kinds of things by watching Saturday- morning cartoon-show advertisements. Make sure you get your children exactly what they ask for, even if you disapprove of their choices. If your child thinks he wants Murderous Bob, the Doll with the Face You Can Rip Right Off, you’d better get it. You may be worried that it might help to encourage your child’s antisocial tendencies, but believe me, you have not seen antisocial tendencies until you’ve seen a child who is convinced that he or she did not get the right gift.”

On Gifts for Men:

Men are amused by almost any idiot thing — that is why professional ice hockey is so popular — so buying gifts for them is easy. But you should never buy them clothes. Men believe they already have all the clothes they will ever need, and new ones make them nervous. For example, your average man has 84 ties, but he wears, at most, only three of them. He has learned, through humiliating trial and error, that if he wears any of the other 81 ties, his wife will probably laugh at him (“You’re not going to wear THAT tie with that suit, are you?”). So he has narrowed it down to three safe ties, and has gone several years without being laughed at. If you give him a new tie, he will pretend to like it, but deep inside he will hate you.

If you want to give a man something practical, consider tires. More than once, I would have gladly traded all the gifts I got for a new set of tires.”


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the man in the middle

Last night Sean was awarded the title “Defensive Player of the Year” for the 2006 Benicia Panthers football team for his work in the middle linebacker position.  He was surprised to find out that he was also selected for the 7th annual Vallejo Times-Herald All-Regional team. Next week he’ll be honored at the 7th annual Times-Herald/Vallejo Elks football awards dinner, where first-team athletes from the Solano County Athletic Conference, other conferences and Solano College will be honored.


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wine country wandering

Karen and I had a chance — or more accurately created a chance — to have an aimless day of sorts. Adam had to be in San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall at 9:00 a.m. Sunday for a concert, and after leaving him with the group, wandered off in search of breakfast. Which we promptly found one block down and to the left at The Crepe House. It’s a nice little place, offering crepes, eggs, omelets and your basic breakfast foods. I opted for a cheese, ham and mushroom omelet, which came with pan fried potatoes and thick sourdough toast. Karen splurged on eggs Benedict, accompanied by two “plain” crepes (with lemon, butter and powdered sugar). It was nice to enjoy a hearty breakfast without rushing off.

After a quick stop at the office so I could set up the artificial Christmas tree, we leisurely found our way to Sears Point with the thought of stopping at wineries we typically pass by on our way to others in the more northern Napa or Sonoma valleys. And we were pleasantly surprised at each of the three wineries we visited. (I believe that all three only sell on premises or to restaurants.)

At Roche Carneros, our first stop, we sampled the standard range of wines from the area. The 2005 Carneros Estate Chardonnay is a very good, balanced white. We found the other wines to also be generally good, but I was very impressed with two dessert wines: the 2005 Taramix and the 2005 Late Harvest Merlot. Both are more subtle than most dessert wines, but the late harvest merlot was unlike any wine I have ever tasted. As a blush, a slight presence of tannins works a bit against the sweetness to leave a fresh taste on the tongue. Definitely a great wine for a hot summer day!

Just down the road we entered the long, sweeping driveway to Viansa Winery & Italian Marketplace, which focuses on Italian and was established by Sam and Vicki Sebastiani, with Sam part of the well-known family behind the Sebastiani Vineyard & Winery. It’s quite a view from this winery’s hilltop location. The last half of Viansa’s name truly reflects what we found inside, with Italian foodstuffs and merchandise, as well as a small deli. Generally, the wines were good, but I think we were both very impressed with the 2004 Prindelo, which is a blend of Primitivo, Teroldego and Zinfandel. We also both enjoyed the crsip and clean 2005 Arneis. (Arneis is a reputedly difficult to grow Italian grape, while Primitivo is considered by some to be the ancestor of California’s Zinfandel. Teroldego is a rich red similar to Zinfandel.)

We continued northeast on Hwy 112, intent on heading up Hwy 12 to Sonoma, but before the turnoff spotted a smallish sign touting the funny little Larson Family Winery. I say funny because the first sign along the semi-private and rather rundown road states something like “Winery: .4173485 miles.” Further down the road another old wooden signs warns one to “Beware of Kamikaze squirrels.” This is another small, family-owned place with some surprising wines and hosted by a golden retriever named Buddy. Here you can find the 2004 Wingo White Carneros jug wine sitting alongside to a very nice 2005 Carneros Cuvée Rosé and what I would call an incredible 2003 Meritage. Speaking of rosés — it must have been inevitable that they make a return. But don’t turn your nose up at a rosé without first tasting it…I have very surprised at how good varietal rosés can be. (It’s not your father’s Lancers anymore!)

The rest of our day was fairly relaxed, dropping by Sonoma Jack’s for some cheese and food, visiting a few stores such as Pier 1 Imports for some Christmas goodies, before winding our way home.

P.S. I’m figuring that since we didn’t buy some of the wines that we enjoyed, a return trip will be in order soon!


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i was wrong…

It seems that Sean will have one more game in his high school football career, even though the Benicia Panthers didn’t make the playoffs.  He was named to the Solano County Athletic Conference’s 2006 first-team defensive line, which means he will have a last “high school” game sometime during the summer.  Congratulations to Sean!


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bethel@benicia (20-6)

What a tough ending to a season and a high school football career. It was a tough game from the beginning, with the score tied at zero at the half. Murmurs around me in the stands hinted at a belief that the first team to score would win the game by sheer momentum. In the end, the Bethel Jaguars (Vallejo) took away any hope of the Panther moving into the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs. In the end, Benicia simply made too many mistakes and couldn’t capitalize on the hard work of the defense, which was on the field much more than in most of the season’s games. Sean put in a strong effort though he was floating around on both offense and defense. One of his runs gained a first down for the Panthers deep in Bethel territory, but that’s where Benicia’s offensive drive ended. Not the best ending to a season, but I think its a season that Sean can look back upon and be proud of and one in which he really learned the meaning of “hustle.”


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vanden@benicia (22-42)

This was a big game for the Panthers, and this win keeps them in the hunt for the Solano County Athletic Conference championship.  When Benicia’s defense was on the field, I don’t think more than five or six plays went by without the announcer saying “Konoske” in a sentence as Sean was hustling all over the field.  He had numerous tackles and one big “textbook” tackle that got the crowd to groan.  You should be able to view a video clip of this tackle by clicking here.  Great game!  (And check out Sean’s swagger after that tackle!)

P.S. Sean ~ posted this, but still waiting on your stats, dude…