is it december already?

wow! i can't believe that tomorrow is the first day of december. where did november go? and where did i go in november?

i went to southern california twice: once for thanksgiving to visit andrea's family and once for work. the work gig was in santa monica and venice. here are some pics from that trip.

i shot this early one morning... later on there were people swinging from ring to ring like monkeys. no kids. only adults waiting in line to swing on the rings. it was great!

on the beach at santa monica


"stop all wars"
venice beach

shoreline season 21 comes to an end

It's difficult to believe BUT I just finished my 21st season working at Shoreline Amphitheatre. (I was 12 years old when I started there!) It was a "light" season as we say in the biz -- about 25 shows scheduled. The reason I'm able to manage a part-time job with a full-time job and motherhood is my dear friend Laura Parks. Laura and I job-share the smaller scale shows and work the big festival shows as a team.

lovely laura parks and me: partners in crime

We ended this season with the Bridge School Benefit http://www.bridgeschool.org/. It was a great gig to end the season with. Part of what made it great was that I got to spend time with Laura and my best buddies from the world of concert photography. They all came out for the Bridge shows. I turned the table and took some pics of them over the Bridge weekend. Here are some shots of my photographer pals:

los angeles-based photographer john shearer is ready to go

misha vladimirskiy and john shearer shooting away


the gang waiting for the next act to begin
from left: anthony pidgeon (kneeling), jerome brunet, stephen miner, tim mosenfelder (kneeling), john marr

The Bridge Benefit this year featured Regina Spektor, Tom Waits with the Kronos Quartet, John Mayer, Tegan and Sarah, Jerry Lee Lewis, Metallica and Neil Young. Something happened that has never happened at a Bridge show before: an opening act (first artist in the line-up) received a standing ovation. That person was Regina Spektor. Her set on Sunday was phenomenal and apparently the audience agreed. She seemed pretty shocked by the ovation and very appreciative as well.

Regina was good but Tom Waits and Kronos stole the show on both days. I haven't seen Tom Waits live before and he blew me away! I downloaded a bunch of his songs from iTunes right after his set on Saturday night. I'm a believer!

tom waits takes flight at the bridge benefit
photo by jerome brunet

Thanks to all of my Shoreline friends for another great season -- see you next year!

things we say to natalya

Pirates don't play tennis.
-- Andrea's response to Natalya when she asked if she could wear her pirate costume outside to play.

Hands are not replaceable.
-- We said this to Natalya when she kept sticking her hand out the car window while we were driving somewhere.

Next time use more water and less soap -- a lot less soap...
-- Kaari's reaction to Natalya's "help" washing dishes.

the scene of the crime

annie lennox is a goddess!

we saw Annie Lennox in San Francisco last week. she played the Nob Hill Masonic. a tiny little place and we managed to be in the fifth row -- close enough for her to spit on us! she sounded great too. played some stuff off the new CD and also did some Eurythmics tunes. all in all it was a pretty good night EXCEPT for the fact that there was a freaky couple sitting in front of us.

the funny part about this is that freaky people always sit in front of us. we're magnates. for example, when we saw melissa etheridge in portland the couple in front of us were the only people in the entire place who stood up for the duration of the show (3 hours). and when we went to see the true colors tour (which was a very gay crowd) a straight couple was in front of us and they were making out all night. how dare they flaunt their lifestyle in public! :)

talya the toothless wonder...

natalya has lost a total of seven teeth now. two of her grown up teeth have come in and another five are on their way. she looks pretty silly. it's hard to take her seriously sometimes when she's talking and her tongue is flopping out through the space in front of her mouth :)

apparently it's difficult to open your toothless mouth and your eyes at the same time

and the winner is...

every year there's an opening band at Shoreline that permeates my jaded "i've seen hundreds of concerts and hundreds of bands" exterior. last year the award went to "TV on the Radio". this year the award for "best opening act at Shoreline Amphitheatre" goes to (drum roll please): LCD Soundsystem!

LCD Soundsystem live

LCD Soundsystem opened for Arcade Fire and they were really good and really fun. the lead singer, James Murphy, is one of those frontmen you could pass on the street and never think for a second that he's the lead singer of a band. he looks more like - um - a software engineer. LCD got the crowd out of their seats and dancing with their infectious grooves. After their set I headed right back to my office to download some of LCD Soundsystem's music from iTunes. I suggest that you do the same as soon as possible!

james murphy: singer or software engineer?

announcement: She's Geeky (un)Conference

She's Geeky ( http://www.shesgeeky.org)

A Women's Tech (un)conference
October 22-23 in Mountain View, CA.

I'm very excited to be a part of She's Geeky. I've been helping the organizers by getting the word out to all of my geeky gals and it's shaping up to be a great couple of days! This event is designed to bring together women from a range of technology-focused disciplines who self identify as geeky. Our goal is to support skills exchange and learning between women working in diverse fields and to create a space for networking and talking about issues faced by women in technology.

The first day is programmed with some excellent presenters and the second day is the (un) conference part where participants will build their own schedule of events. This way we get to talk about whatever we're interested in!

a movie for natalya

natalya asked me to make a movie for her for her sixth birthday. here's what i did... she loved it... hope you do to!

http://homepage.mac.com/kaari/iMovieTheater47.html

(copy and paste this URL into your browser)

a dream come true

Andrea and I made a trip to London in August while my folks stayed with Natalya. We had a fabulous time! Stayed near Soho. Did a lot of the touristy things: Westminster Abbey; The Tate Modern; Madame Tussaud's; rode the Underground all over the city; etc. One of the highlights of the trip for me was walking across Abbey Road just like the Beatles. What a rush!

The lowlight of the trip was the homophobia we experienced. We assumed that London was an accepting place. I mean, they passed the "civil partnership" law and everything -- right? We were so wrong! On three separate occasions men hassled us. For example, one night when we were riding the Tube we happened to sit down across from these two middle-aged local guys. The minute we sat down they started muttering to each other while they staring at us. I kept hearing the word "lesbian". One of the guys would not take his eyes off of me. Every time I looked up he was staring at me. What the heck were we supposed to do? If we said anything to them we'd just be adding fuel to the fire. So we ignored them...and felt grateful for living in Northern California where the episodes of homophobia we experience are very few and far between.

first day of school

Natalya started Kindergarten this week. She was SO EXCITED about it! I'm so glad that I didn't have to drag her into the classroom :) Her teacher's name is Ms. Brock. She's the quintessential teacher: hair in a bun; glasses; wearing a skirt and sensible shoes. (that's her standing in the background of the photo) I have the impression that she's seen it all and nothing that Natalya does will phase her...so it's a good match!

natalya is 6!

Natalya turned 6 on August 6th. I still can't believe it! time has flown by. We had a party for her at "Sky High Sports" where you can "jump sky high". It's a wall-to-wall trampoline place and the kids (and parents) had loads of fun. As one partygoer shouted, "this is way better than Pump It Up!"

another gem from natalya

natalya posing in front of her gym

Last night Natalya was performing for Andrea, Amy (Amos) and me. At one point she stopped dancing and very dramatically waved her hands and said, "then a flush fell over the crowd -- (in a very breathy voice) -- FLUSH"

Do you think she meant "hush"?

I love that kid :)

natalya's sense of humor

We took Natalya to see Ratatouille this weekend. This was after much prodding on her part mind you. Usually when we take her to a movie she's fine until her cherry "Icee" drink runs out. The minute that's gone she's ready to leave the theater. So -- I told her we'd go to Ratatouille on the condition that we'd stay for the entire movie (even after the Icee was gone).

I bought Natalya the Icee and we sat down and watched all of the movie previews. When Ratatouille finally started she leaned over toward me and said "I'm ready to go now". And then she flashed a big mischievous grin.

Needless to say, we made it through the entire movie this time. :)

This is a photo of Natalya displaying her white t-shirts.
The one on the left is after a day at camp.
The one on the right is before a day at camp.
I don't know what she does to get so dirty but she's
definitely having fun this summer!

True Colors

Friday night Andrea and I went to the True Colors concert at the Greek in Berkeley. The tour takes its name from one of tour organizer Cyndi Lauper’s best-known songs. A portion of the proceeds from each ticket sold on this month-long tour, goes to benefit the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest organization working for GLBT equality. The tour also provided a forum for other equal rights organizations, including PFLAG and the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

San Francisco-born comic Margaret Cho served as the host of the event and provided some of its best moments with her between-sets comedy routines. Almost all of her bits and punch lines are rated NC-17 — especially the lyrics to her hilarious rap song Your Puss which she performed with fellow comic Diana Yanez.

The tour’s two opening acts the Cliks and the Dresden Dolls were both really solid. The Cliks is a Toronto-based female indie-rock quartet that (according to my pal music critic Jim Harrington) should appeal to fans of the Pretenders. The Dresden Dolls is an over-the-top glam-rock duo from Boston which describes its sound as Brechtian punk cabaret. Jim thinks they sound like a mashup of the White Stripes and Queen — and I have to agree. The highlight of the Doll's set was an amusing and flawless cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs.

Sadly, both openers overshadowed the next act: Deborah Harry. The New Wave icon, who turned 62 on Sunday (July 1), sounded okay, but her song selection was disappointing. Harry focused on her solo material, mostly including tracks from her new disc instead of her legendary work with Blondie. The best part of her set was the tune French Kissin’ in the USA, but there could have been many highlights with a fewBlondie tunes thrown in.

Rosie O’Donnell took the stage next and wowed the crowd with some stand-up material. Her humor centered around her sexuality, her weight, her time on “The View” and, of course, her battle with Donald Trump.

Andy Bell of Erasure

Following O’Donnell, Erasure entered the picture and a booming dance party started. Backed by three female singers, the duo of vocalist Andy Bell and keyboardist Vince Clarke gave the best set of the night. In fact, in my mind they just plain blew everyone else away. They sounded so good and there was so much electricity in the air during their set that I got chills. Seriously.

Erasure played several fan favorites like Blue Savannah, Love to Hate You, Chains of Love and Sometimes. Bell's voice sounded strong and clear and the classic Erasure tunes sounded better than ever. Even the new songs stacked up against the old ones. Proving that Erasure’s new disc Light at the End of the World is the band’s best release in years.

Lauper couldn’t match Erasure’s overall energy during her set, but she did contribute some good moments. For example, she delivered an energetic version of Money Changes Everything and a very funky rendition of She Bop. Lauper also brought O’Donnell back on-stage to add some solid percussion to Girls Just Want to Have Fun and then summoned the entire cast back for an uplifting show-closer on Abba’s Take a Chance on Me. All in all, True Colors was a truly fabulous concert!

Pride 2007

Last weekend was Gay Pride in San Francisco. I'm sorry to say that the last time I went to SF Pride was before I got Natalya :( To be specific, Andrea and I went to the Dyke March then. We were supposed to meet my pal Pati there and a funny thing happened along the way... It went something like this:

I called Pati on her cell phone when we got to the Castro (as planned). Keep in mind that when Pati and I talk on the phone we goof around a lot. We sing to each other and say "hello" in very affected ways.

Pati: Hello?
Me: Helloooooooo! Happy Pride!
Pati: Hellooooooo to you too!
Me: Hey there Patooti! What's shaking?
Pati: Helloooooo darlin'! (in a sing-song voice)
Me: So let's meet in front of the Gauntlet baby.
Pati: Okay -- see you there in a few minutes. Bye!
Me: Okay. Bye.

Andrea and I walked over to the Gauntlet and I didn't see Pati so I called her back.

Pati: Hello?
Me: Howdy. Where are you?
Pati: In front of the Gauntlet.
Me: No you're not. I'm standing here and I don't see you.
Pati: I swear to you — I'm in front of the Gauntlet.
Me: Then why can't I see you?
Pati: If you want your cell phone back you need to find me.
Me: Huh? What are you talking about?
Pati: You left your cell phone in my car and I'm trying to meet you to return it.
Me: But I'm talking to you on MY cell phone.
Pati: Wait a minute -- do you have long red curly hair?
Me: No Pati. But you do you big idiot!
Pati: Oh no! I'm not Pati. I just have her phone.
Me: Huh?
Pati: This woman with red curly hair left her cell phone in my car. I gave her a ride to the Dyke March but I don't know her.
Me: Oh — so you've been answering Pati's phone...
Pati: Well yeah. I was hoping that I could figure out a way to get the phone back to her.

Needless to say, Pati got her phone back that night and we both had a great big laugh about the ordeal.

a lesson in determination

We just returned from a trip to Michigan to see the family. Took the kids to a water park one day and Natalya had a blast of course. One of the pools at the park had 3 basketball hoops. Natalya grabbed a ball and her mom and jumped into the pool to shoot a few baskets. Natalya and I spent about 90 minutes total shooting baskets throughout the day. During that entire time she never made a basket. Never.

(Natalya & Cousin Joshua in the pool)

But my girl didn't get discouraged. She never wanted to give up and she never stopped having fun. I have a new appreciation for what a special little girl she is and am thrilled that I'm continuing to learn from her approach to life and living.

got brownies?

natalya and i made brownies the other night for her to take to school. she was a big help! :)

OM

natalya gave us a buddha for our backyard for mother's day. we planted the flowers and rocks around him. kinda peaceful looking isn't it?

and so it begins...

I started my 21st (wow!) season at Shoreline Amphitheatre last weekend. Our opening show was headlined by Brad Paisley -- he's a popular country artist. (Hey I just work the shows I don't book 'em). Anyway, let's just say that it was an eye-opener of an evening for me. This popular country cross-over stuff frightens me. Case in point: before Brad takes the stage the music of AC/DC is blasting through the venue and all of these cowboy hat covered heads are banging to Back in Black. Then the lights go down and Brad takes the stage and the crowd switches to country mode and they're all singing along with the guy who writes "tears in my beers" songs like Two Feet of top Soil:

Yesterday I thought that I was low as I could get
I had hit rock bottom ever since you up and left
But this morning when I saw you with somebody else
Well needless to say
Thats when I started sinkin' even lower
And as far as where I'm at today

Theres two feet of topsoil
A little bit of bedrock, limestone in between
A fossilized dinosaur
A little patch of crude oil
A thousand feet of granite underneath
Then there's me

Amusing but not my cup of tea...give me Back in Black any day and ROCK ON!

mother's day 2007

natalya did a portrait of me for mother's day this year. and she told me that she loved me "more than a potato chip." i'll take that as a compliment :)










here's a photo taken on my first mother's day
with natalya (2003). we've both grown a lot
since then.