Return of the House Party
The wedding that I did last night was fun. The couple redid the backyard and it looked amazing. I later found out that they are renting the house and they fixed the whole backyard themselves. There were so many friends and family there, although none of the celebrities that they knew did not come. No big deal though. It was basically a house party with a wedding ceremony thrown in. There was good food, plenty of alcohol, the cake tasted great and people danced. You're always scared that you don't find the right groove but when we opened the dancefloor and "Celebration" came on it was non-stop. I even threw in MC Hammer and the groom was buggin'! We did get into the Hyphy Movement for a little while since the bride had a teen daughter and her cheerleader squad friends there. One observation though, Pleasanton teens don't get as hyphy as Alameda/Vallejo teens.
Another observation, the couple did a "Bittersweet Ceremony" which was really nice. The daughter fed them four items while the best man described each one. Honey was the sweet and symbolic in that it never spoils. Betel nut was bitter and symbolic in that marriage will see some sour moments here and there. Also, pepper was symbolic in that a marriage can get hot at times and salt is symbolic in that it preserves. Lastly they had water which cleansed. First time I had seen that. What also made it cool was that the best man had a cool Jamaican accent so he sounded really smooth in describing each one.
Although I love being a part of all the Pilipino weddings since I know what to expect and they have generally been fun, it's always nice to see how other customs are played out. Next weekend is a wedding for a white couple who found us in the phonebook so there's a little pressure there since they don't really know me but something tells me it's going to make me more aware of my surroundings that evening. It'll be interesting in trying to read the crowd. I was a little nervous about last night but it ended up turning out great.
Wedding gig on a friday
I'll be in Pleasanton today for a wedding that's going to take place in a couple's backyard. We visited them on sunday and spoke with the bride while also checking out the site. I think it's actually going to turn out nicely. Although I'm used to the big banquet halls and hotels that we usually go to, this will be a nice change of pace. Also, apparently the bride knows some celebrities so it'll be interesting to see who shows up. I hope there's not going to be a lot of dancing but more of some chillin'. I'm bringing a ton of music on two separate hard drives as well as my cd collection. I'm also going to bring out the serato but not with the turntables, just so I can use the laptop.
We were supposed to dj a cotillion tomorrow but apparently they found another dj last minute. Even after the mom kept saying "please save the date, my daughter really wants you guys...", she didn't call me to tell me, I had to call her. I'm a little upset about it but I can really use a saturday with my family. We've got things that we can do together.
Gettin' Kinda Hectic
Just need to make a few political points today. I guess the heat is getting to me and making me angrier about the world situation. Whether or not you are for or against what Israel is doing in Lebanon, blame can be easily spread around all sides. You can't even get into a discussion about who started it because both sides will point to some incursion or kidnapping or bombing that happened as the reason it all began. For me it's gotten to the point where you just listen to Marvin Gaye sing "make me wanna holler, throw up both my hands..." I'm tired of this. I read it everyday in the news, on blogs and different sites. I really have tried to stop watching tv on it because it's just disgusting. These people on tv, all they do is scream now. There's no true discussion. The only show that does discuss it is on PBS and even their news show has lost it's real in depth coverage, afraid of how the right-wing will portray them. I still listen to my favorite host, Bernie Ward, on KGO on at late-night. And although I know he's a tried and true left-wing progressive like myself, he still knows how to make an argument and stick with it. I know that I'm going to agree with him most of the time, but I still try to listen to both sides. You have to know what the other side is arguing in order to be a part of a true debate and discourse.
And Mr. Bush sits there doing nothing. It's really embarrassing. The world can crumble around him and all he can say is "freedom is on the march", "we're showing resolve" or some other catchphrase that someone made up for him. I'm looking forward to that day in January of 2009 when a new president is sworn in and he steps away. I'm really looking forward to a Congress that shows some guts so hopefully there will be some change in this election year. If not, we get what we deserve. Hold onto your butts people, it's going to be an interesting path that we're walking and no one knows what's around the corner.
I'm burnin' up, burnin' up for your love...
As you probably have seen on the news or felt it yourself, it's burning up in the Yay Area. And I'm not talking about the "Hyphy Movement". We are all cooking out here up and down Northern California. We knew that moving to Vacaville would bring us hot summers but this is getting ridiculous. This is now officially Las Vegas weather no matter where you go, Vacaville, Concord, Pleasanton, Fremont, San Jose, the list goes on...
Friday was a travel day for us to San Jose in preparation of my cousin's wedding. It was nice driving with the air-con on but as soon as you step outside it's like an oven. I'm glad we don't have the humidity but I bet that's coming soon. The church was in downtown, really beautiful, but it didn't have any air conditioning. We sat in the heat while another couple rehearsed. It looked like Paris Hilton was getting married with all the white chicks in the bridal party. The dinner that night was at a buffet close to Santana Row. They had salt and pepper frog legs. I was tempted since I really like salt and pepper pork or salt and pepper shrimp but I couldn't do frog legs. Maybe if I was on tv and competing with other people I would have done it but i passed. The evening at my cousin's fiance's house was tough. They also had no air-con, the wife couldn't bear the heat but at least it was free.
Saturday, wedding day, we got up early and ran errands. We wanted to find fans or paypays for people who would be at the wedding but everywhere we went no one had any. As the wife went to get her nails done we asked the lady who was doing them if she knew where to get some. She said downtown. So as we got ready, got the boys ready and left for downtown, we had time to go fan hunting. The shop selection was getting thin the closer we got to downtown and when I saw an Vietnamese "antique" shop I decided to give it a shot. As I looked around I saw a lot of old antiques and art. I asked the shopkeeper if she had any fans and sure enough, she had a small bucket full of them. I almost grabbed all of them but wasn't sure how much they were. I offered her 20 bucks for all of the ones I had in my hand and she said deal. It was like a shot in the dark but we scored, nice! At the church I tried to pass them out to people but everyone wanted one. It's really hard to be generous sometimes because as I passed them out it was if people expected them from me. The people that I gave them to that I didn't even know didn't even say thank you and when I told them I needed to save some for the wedding party they looked at me crazy. You just can win sometimes.
The wedding was great, Andres walked, although reluctantly. My cousin's in the wedding party got busted by the priest when they were chewing gum. They're not Catholic though, they go to another church, Iglesia Ni Cristo I think, so they're kinda excused. I was really happy for my cousin and his new wife when they finished their vows. 10 years they'd been together, amazing. We decided to get a room at the Doles Hayes Mansion where the reception was so we checked into the hotel and I setup the gear as well. Moe came later and for the most part it went smooth. I had some issues with the video presentation but our screen looked great up there (it's huge!) and my new Mac did the job and then some. When we played ballroom everyone filled the dancefloor, especially for line dances. It seems everyone really loves the Cha Cha Slide song, young and old, especially young. We got a little hyphy but for the most part the danced all night. Even the wife and I got to dance more at this wedding. Usually I'm working so she loses her partner.
We loved the hotel room, air-con and all. The family went swimming the following morning. I stayed in and watched my twin, Tiger Woods, win the British Open. We left for Fremont to be at the Cruz's. Their food was scrumptious. I really liked the string beans! The wife went to practice and I ran around. In the evening I had to meet with a couple who's wedding I'm deejaying on Friday. It's at their house in the backyard, gonna be a chillin' party. Apparently, the bride knows a lot of celebrities. Goapele may be there and maybe even the rock group Living Color. She wants me to network with other entertainers to do other gigs. Pretty cool of her and she hasn't even heard me play yet. Maybe this is getting closer to being a full-time gig, eh? We shall see.
Big Weekend... after big weekend... after big weekend
This is actually a big weekend for my family. My cousin is finally getting married to his longtime sweetheart. The wedding is in San Jose and the ceremony is at a mansion also in San Jose (forgot the name of the place, but I've been there). They've been together for so long and I actually remember when they first started going out because we went and watch a movie together with them at the old theater on Geary in the Richmond district. It's a little embarrassing for me because they've outlasted so many of my own relationships and I'm supposed to be the elder, more experienced cousin... yup. I'll be deejaying for them as well, trying to help them save since it is a pretty large wedding. I'm up late putting together my cds and music lists hoping that I won't forget anything. Luckily I have two huge harddrives with a ton of music and I'll have that just in case someone makes one of those abstract requests like Animotion or OMD. It's been my experience that at least one person will request something that you don't have on you at the time. You might have it somewhere, just not on you when they want it. We'll be staying in San Jose as well since we need to be at the wedding rehearsal. Andres is in the wedding as the ring bear and we're going to have Mio walk with us since we're secondary sponsors ourselves, the wife and I. We're not looking forward to the 100+ degree heat that's supposed to show up over the weekend. Andres has a tuxedo and I'm going to wear a shirt and tie. Gonna need lots of water.
Sunday is also busy as we have a christening in Fremont (congratulations to the Cruz's) and there's also the restart of Likha practice. I know those that just got back from France are still recovering because it took us a little while to get back in the swing of things after the Netherlands. At least I'm not dancing or playing in the big show. I believe I'll be the stage manager for the shows though.
After this weekend there is a friday gig and a saturday gig so I gotta keep this deejay thing rolling. If I can do it full-time it'll be too sweet.
Hot like fire
So Vacaville is not the coolest place on earth. In fact it gets very hot out here. Our upstairs stays hot in the day and night. Although we do have air con up and downstairs (dual climate, I might add), I'm just too scared to turn it out fearing what kind of havoc the bill will bring. I have a lot of little projects that I am trying to get completed:
To take advantage of the heat I'd like to setup a clothesline in the backyard to dry clothes. It'll save money and I can actually do laundry in the daytime instead of wait till 7pm like PG&E tries to have you do. The dryer takes up more energy, right? With the clothesline though, I don't know if the HOA allows it outside (gotta check the contract), and with all the clothes we have I'm not sure I'll be able to do a lot of clothes all in one day.
In our family room we have an area in the wall that allows us to put a tv in it. We didn't use it so we just have this big hole. I bought shelves to fill it with but the shelves have just been chillin' on the fireplace, even before we left for the Netherlands! It can turn out really nice too if/when I get it done.
My mom made the boys a curtain to cover a window in their bedroom. It's a "Cars" print with Lightning McQueen (Ka-Chow!). All I need to do is put up the bar across the window and it's ready. Again, this was given to me BEFORE we left for the Netherlands. The boys room is going to be a "Cars" room now. The good thing is the walls and ceiling paint match it. The bed frame and slide is red so that matches as well. Their room is coming along nicely. Slowly, but nicely.
The wife wants me to paint the dining room which has temporarily become my dj room. The turntables, mixer and laptop are all set on the dining table. Maybe I should paint it like a club, dark purple or something like that. Give it a lounge feel to it. The buffet table is already in here with all of the alcohol I've "received" from all over. Maybe I can remover the dining room light above the ceiling and install running lights in different corners of this room. Hmmm.... gotta watch some "Trading Spaces" and get some ideas.
At least our backyard is coming along after my parents helped revive it while we were gone. The grass is turning green again. The roses are continually turning and blooming. And the weeds are becoming more sparse. Only problem again is that it's too hot to work back there.
The Netherlands
I really enjoyed the tour to the Netherlands. It's been a long time since we've taken a real "vacation" and although we were dancing on a daily basis, this tour had to be the most stress-free tour ever. I'll give it up to our KP peeps in Canada because those tours and shows were stress free but we didn't perform on a daily basis. But yes those tours were stress-free for the most part as well. This one was so different. We arrived a day early, made the trip to northern Holland, in the province of Groningen, to Warrfum, settled in with host families in Usquert, and since we were early, technically, it became a free day. We went into the bigger town of Groningen, shopped, ate, smoked, chilled. This was day one. Back at Usquert with our host families we were blessed with awesome hosts, Peter and Ria. They had a home that was previously a rest home with many extra rooms. They turned it into a bed and breakfast so the wife and I were treated like guests of a bed and breakfast. (Note: the last time the wife and I were at a bed and breakfast was in a town on the outskirts of Rome.) The next day we practiced a little, chilled in the town, did a small gig teaching school children, chilled, went to the festival, danced for 12 minutes, and were done. The next couple of days were exactly the same. Each gig was short and to the point, with the repertoire changing day to day. We always had a chance to chill. We shown the beautiful sights of the province, whether it's the dikes blocking the North Sea, the German island of Borkum just in view, the endless roads through farmlands, bicyclist and their bicycles, the huge windmills centuries old. It really was a vacation for us. Others will have more pictures for you to see which I'm grateful because there really was so much to see and appreciate. When we went to Amsterdam to perform we were able to again stay with a great host family. They really appreciated the show that we gave, mistakes and all, and are hoping we'll come back again. As far as going into Amsterdam, let me just quote Nate Dogg. "Hey, hey, hey, hey... smoke weed everyday..." That's the real reason that I'm not looking for work right away. I may have to give myself 2 months of recovery. Walking through the Red Light District was amazing. Sure you had some second tier professionals but some of them looked like they came straight from the movies. They were gorgeous. Also, the canals cut through the city and add so much character to it. We did a canal tour and saw the real grandeur of the city with mammoth buildings centuries old. It was nice to be able to walk, chill at a cafe, walk some more, chill at another cafe, enjoy the surroundings as well as the company and just really feel like a vacation should feel. I did want to be part of the world cup and it's fervor but we couldn't predict that France would win a game to make it to the championship. We were thinking of just going to Germany and go to a town hosting a match but that would have been too much time spent traveling as well as plenty of Euros. Speaking of which, the Euro is kicking the Dollar's ASS!!! That sure didn't help. But it did allow us to just enjoy Amsterdam. I will definitely plan on coming back here for a vacation. So, I know that this Netherlands tour will not match the previous Brasil tour because of the cameraderie gained with the other groups, but we did meet and hang out with groups from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, Russia and New Zealand. I got to see the South Africans do their thing although I'm sure it didn't have the same effect as in Brasil. I look forward to doing other tours in the future although I think I prefer it as a dancer. I love playing but I started as a dancer. Let me just get my fat ass in shape.
The slacker that I am
Okay, so I've been a big time blog slacker. It's really bad on my part because I am now using a Powerbook G4 that I bought from a fellow deejay. I'm on the internet constantly, looking for different jobs, reading email, kinda catching up on other's blogs. So, what have I been up to...
I didn't get the Bio-Rad job. I had a funny feeling about it, even though I was on an inside track due to a friend who worked there. I'm kinda glad I didn't get it since it would have been tough to work out the vacation to the Netherlands. I'm still thinking of just going to another field completely: teaching, peace officer, nursing or lab tech. I still like IT but there are so many guys out there with better resumes than me but I push on.
I am enjoying the unemployment checks, though. I'm home with the boys. They're a handful, but really, the only thing that would make it better is if the wife were home with us as well. I do a lot more cleaning up after them since they're like a human tornado, dropping hot wheels, crayons, otter pop wrappers, dvd's all over the place.
The deejay gigs are starting to pour in. I've done a couple of gigs, weddings, birthday parties. The more exciting news is that I've got a new setup that allows me to use my two turntable, MKIIs, and this new laptop, and play my mp3s through the record player. Check this link for
Serato. It is awesome. I can just load up all the mp3s I want onto the laptop or an external drive and play away. Basically it's the rebirth of the turntable dj.
Of course we just came back from the Netherlands, and I'll blog about that in another post right after this. We missed our boys so much but when we did talk to them, they just brushed us off their shoulder. It made it easier knowing that they were doing great even though we weren't there. If we can do another tour, we'll see how feasible it is to bring the kids. I'd love for my parents to join us. They're great travelers themselves.
I'm gaining weight. I don't exercise much, except for my weekly softball game which doesn't exert much energy that I would need in order to lose lbs. I really want to get to a gym but I ended my membership with 24 hr fitness. I can get it back but I just don't know. I hadn't used it in the past 2 years. That's really bad...
I think I can devote half an hour to blogging and reading blogs so I'm going to try to stay on top of it. I'm excited about some of the gigs coming up, including my cousin's wedding this weekend. My whole family will be there and they all love to dance. I'll do my best to keep them on the dancefloor. And yes wife, Mo may even come out to help and spin.
