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Last Sunday’s accordion gig in Bonita Springs

It’s been over a year since I’ve played with Tom Hood’s band, the Tropical Sons. 2024 was an unusually busy year for me, with a month-long trip to Asia, then getting laid off and having to kick my side hustle consultancy into my main gig (which is still ongoing), followed by other things ranging from my mom’s 80th birthday to hurricanes.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a text from Tom, asking how I was, and if I’d like to make the drive down to Bonita Springs to play a gig as part of their first annual World Ukulele Day. I’m not a uke player, but Tom is, and as the bandleader and President of the Tampa Bay Ukulele Society, he’s “ukulele” enough for the rest of the band to count.

Since neither Anitra nor I had been to Bonita Springs before, and my cut of the gig money would easily cover gas and a nice dinner, she joined me last Sunday for the two-and-a-half hour drive to the Shangri-La Springs hotel, where the gig was to take place.

Following the Code of the Good Bandmate, I arrived an hour ahead of the gig with my gear — accordions, microphone, mic stand, amplifier, assorted audio and power cords — at the ready. I got set up quickly, and there was plenty of time to get a nice brunch at their restaurant, Harvest & Wisdom, before the gig…

…but alas, a mix-up in the kitchen left us waiting for breakfast for 45 minutes. By the time they got things straightened out, it was time for me to hit the stage. I quickly had a little bit of my food before our first number.

Anitra explained what happened to the staff at the restaurant, and to their credit, they “comped” us as an apology for making us wait unreasonably long and causing me to miss out before the performance. They put my breakfast in a take-out box (see the pic above), and I managed to tuck into it during the break after our first set.

Delay aside, it was really good. I had the key lime pancakes with a side of sausage patties (see above), and they were buttery with a cake-y texture and downright delicious.

Anitra had a macadamia/coconut waffle (see above) that was also tasty. Both were keto-friendly and gluten-free, which was great, since we like to share food, and one of us has a wheat allergy.

Mild annoyance of our delayed breakfast aside, I’d gladly eat at Harvest & Wisdom again — their menu is interesting, and their food is really good!

As for the gig, it went well. Despite not having played with the band — Tom Hood on vocals, ukulele, and harmonica, Dave Helm on bass and vocals — we easily meshed together, sounded good, and had a lot of fun.

I’ve already been invited to join the Tropical Sons for Tampa Bay Ukulele Days 2025, which happens on the weekend of March 21 – 23.

Here are some photos and video from the gig:

My thanks to Anitra for taking the photos and video!

Categories
America Editorial The Current Situation

Sign of the day (plus bonus comic)

Normally, I’d wait until Sunday to post this in the weekly picdump, but these are a little too important to wait.

I believe that these photos were taken in New Jersey. Can anyone confirm this?

And as promised, here’s the bonus comic:

Categories
America The Current Situation

Headline of the day

Here’s the cover of Le Journal de Montréal from a couple of days ago, and wow, did it go viral.

In case you’re wondering:

  • The headline, “Stupid(e),” is a bilingual way of saying “stupid” — without the “e,” you get the English word; with the “e,” you get it in French.
  • The subhead, “Trump pousse son plus proche allié vers la récession,” means “Trump is pushing his closest ally towards recession.”
Categories
Editorial The Current Situation

Yet once more, here’s NBC’s Tom Brokaw explaining Canada to Americans

Back in 2018, during the previous Trump administration, I posted an article that started like this:

In a time when the president of the United States is slandering Canada — its biggest trading partner and close ally — as a security threat, it’s important to have reminders such as this.

Here we are again, seven years later, the electorate having forgotten the object lessons from its previous mistake, and Trump isn’t just repeating the same canard, but adding an annexation twist to it.

So once again, I’m doing what I did in that article from seven years ago: sharing NBC anchor Tom Brokaw’s video on Canada, which was aired just before the 2010 Olympic Games’ opening ceremonies in Vancouver, Canada on February 12, 2010.

Categories
America Editorial The Current Situation

TASTE THE GOLDEN SPRAY (or: How tariffs REALLY work)

More later in a longer article. In the meantime, enjoy the cartoon!

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America Editorial Picdump The Good Fight

Sunday picdump for February 2, 2024

It’s Sunday, which means it’s time for another “picdump!” Here are 100+ memes, pictures, and cartoons floating around the internet that I found interesting or relevant this week. Share and enjoy!


































































































































Categories
America Editorial The Current Situation The Good Fight

Everything you need to know about the new U.S. administration, in a single picture

Photo of a worker painting plain grey over a mural in a hallway. The mural being painted over is made up of words including:
- Diversity
- Cooperativeness
- Fairness
- Leadership
- Compassion
- Integrity
- Stability
- Constitution
- Initiative
- Respect
- AccountabilityAccording to Zach Lambert:

This photograph was taken two days ago at the FBI Academy in Quantico and submitted to the NYT under the condition of anonymity.

It’s also worth reading his article, Dr. King and Donald Trump: Fighting for justice on inauguration day and beyond, as a reminder that everyone can’t do everything, but everyone can do something.

Adam Goldman of the New York Times writes:

A photograph provided to The New York Times shows a glimpse of some of the changes underway at the F.B.I., specifically the F.B.I. Academy at Quantico on Wednesday.

And in case you needed a list of the words on the mural that’s being covered up:

  • Diversity
  • Cooperativeness
  • Fairness
  • Leadership
  • Compassion
  • Integrity
  • Stability
  • Constitution
  • Initiative
  • Respect
  • Accountability