Friday's Photo Of The Week #17

This is my buddy, Treydan Green. He's pretty awesome.
He is getting a brother Green very soon. Congrats Matt and Joyce! :)

In AZ to see my brother graduate today! You're amazing Robbie! Good work.
Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Diane Birch

ummmm... what!?
This video is amazing!
I just finished watching it and had to share it with you right away. I've never heard of Diane Birch, but I will definitely be looking into her music more.

Towsley Canyon (Santa Clarita)

This was a great hike! I definitely recommend it. It's a loop, which I love. About 6 miles, a nice workout. Absolutely beautiful weather! We were there from 5:15 to 7:45pm, so 2.5 hours.

I went with my good friend Courtney, who just got a dog named Annie. Funny thing is she looks SO MUCH like Rita! We had so much fun, the two of us and our dogs. I wonder if they're related...
This hike is very close to the 5 fwy just south of Santa Clarita. Take the Calgrove exit and go west 1/2 a mile to the Towsley Canyon parking area (I would park outside the entrance, since this is the free parking lot).
Follow Towsley Canyon Rd as far as you can go to the west. After maybe 2 miles you will come upon a creek and the trail gets sort of undefined here.
This part of the trail they call the Narrows. Not much like the Narrows in Utah, but still some pretty neat rock formations through this part of the trail.



Then you will come through the canyon and start hiking the switchbacks.
This will lead you to the top of the canyon and some amazing views! You're probably about halfway done with the hike here.

It's all downhill from here, through Wiley Canyon. You go through some pretty amazing foliage.
Once you reach an opening with a bench, it's a direct shot northeast back to the parking lot from here.
This trail is called Wiley Mtwy, and you'll even see a natural bubbling tar pit on the way back.


At the end of the day, my favorite lens broke when removing my camera from the car. :( I will replace it with my birthday money, which I'm extremely grateful for. I really love this lens. It's a 50mm f/1.8 for Canon, and only about $100, which is a steal. This is the last picture that lens took:
The rest of the photos from the hike, you can view here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=232163&id=527707845&l=6e4b399ac9

Welcome to L.A. by Truth & Salvage Co.

Their debut album is coming out this Tuesday, May 25th!! Go get it, you will not be disappointed. :) And to T&S Co., congratulations on the release dear friends, and thanks for the great tunes.

Friday's Photo Of The Week #16 and Telegram

RELAX and REFRESH this weekend.

Here is a song from the band Telegram, a project that Sam has been playing drums for:


And some pictures I've taken of the band:

Andrew Bird... Music Video in Cathedral

This is one of the most beautiful group of music videos I've seen, and it gives you a chance to see what Andrew Bird is like if you haven't seen him live. I was trying to explain how complex he was in one of my last posts, but this is a good way to experience it. Good job Pitchfork! And thanks to Tucker for sharing.
Here is the collection of 5 or 6 videos: http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/episode/2255-andrew-bird
It's worth watching all of them if you have the time. And here is my favorite one of them:
(PLEASE watch!)

(a panorama I took while waiting in line for the show)

Newton Canyon in Malibu, CA

The trail we took is called Newton Canyon. There were supposed to be some falls, but this isn't the hike to go on if you want to see some falls. You can kind of hike to the top of the fall, but you can't see much, unless you want to do some (dangerous) rock-scrambling down to the bottom... Either way, this wasn't one of my favorite hikes, but it was very enjoyable and shady most of the trail.



You take 101 fwy to Kanan Rd and drive south for 8 miles. The Backbone Trail sign and parking lot is on the right. Take the trail to the right. We just walked for a couple miles, then turned around, about 4 miles total. If you want to keep it under an hour, the bridge is a good turn-around point. I'd like to take the trail to the left sometime as well... it's supposed to go to Castro Crest(?).



This trailhead is a 10-minute drive from Point Dume/Zuma Beach. So it's a nice thing to do if you're on your way down to the beach.

Birthday Celebration

Today is my birthday, but I've been celebrating all weekend. Friday night I went to see Andrew Bird at the Largo.
This guy is awesome. Kinda spastic and moves around a lot, but still manages to keep the most meticulous timing as he programs loop after loop to create music that sounds like a full orchestra up on stage. He is incredible. This show was kind of unique because it was all either his really new unreleased stuff, stuff he was still working through, or his really old music. It was a wonderful show, despite the middle when I was trying to keep awake. The music is such an incredible serenade and sometimes made me a bit sleepy. Anyway, I would definitely suggest Andrew Bird's most recent album "Noble Beast."

Saturday, Sam made me a most wonderful breakfast croissant. Best yet! And then treated me to a full day of activities including:

a hike (I'll do a more detailed post on the hike tomorrow),
wine, cheese & crackers with truffle honey & jam, and grapes on the beach.... yeah....
and we got to see Iron Man 2 and the Tomorrow Show (a midnight comedy show) with some friends. It was a packed but relaxing day, and one of the best birthday celebrations yet.

Sunday we worked on the house all day and then had some friends over for cake and drinks that night. That was also fun. We got to show off some of Rita's tricks. Her most recent is to play dead when we say "bang!", and she's getting quite good...
She's gotten much faster and dramatic about it. It's so awesome. I'll try to post a video. :)
Anyway, thanks so much for the birthday wishes. I'll post some shots of the hike tomorrow.

Friday's Photo Of The Week #15 / Kitchen Update

(This was in the last post, but I had to reuse it as the photo of the week. It definitely deserves it.)

And below is the KITCHEN update. Here are some pictures I took this weekend of the kitchen! It's mostly done. We'll have to install the range hood, and put little white planks in between the gaps of the cupboards. The counter top still needs a second coat of glaze too.

Here it is in the process of gutting from the same view (click to enlarge):

Here is the front view of the kitchen from it's original condition to the finished gutting:
(click to enlarge)

Rita is a hardcore-construction-loving dog! She looks so young here!
Removing the floor was TOUGH. There was tile, concrete and chicken wire, two layers of linoleum, and the rotted floorboards to replace...
Here it is from the other corner view. It overlooks the living/dining room. You can see the front door there behind Sam.

And it's original condition, same view:

We have the upright piano set up and I have been fumbling around trying to play Moon River.
And yesterday I stripped the old paint off the hutch in the dining room and sanded the wood. I also took out a piece of cracked glass and will try to replace it.
It's really fun learning all this stuff. I'm totally enjoying it. If only I had more time in the week to spend working on the house...