End o' Week Musings

Only four days of blogging and whew! I'm ready for the weekend.. or not...

Last Sunday I donned my mardi gras belly dance outfit, grabbed my swords, veil and fan and went to Catharae's hafla in La Verne. My friend Byron tagged along and was jazzed that he was welcome to photograph the dancers in action.

There were many beautiful and talented dancers, but I was the only one with swords. It was kinda weird not having my drummer Ric with me, still I made the best of it and the crowd seemed appreciative. At the end of the event enough drummers had filtered in to have a little jam. I danced with them as well, and spent a little time on the tambourine too.

Byron and I went to Capri Deli in Covina for dinner on the way home. I had the spaghetti and ravioli combination, which was very filling, especially after the nice crisp salad.

I spent the bulk of my Monday sewing costumes for the Renaissance Faire. I did get a break, however, when my friend Louise dropped by. We chatted, drank a little wine and perused one of my art books. It was a nice visit.

Fat Tuesday, I went to work with a clutch of beads around my neck. My podmate Linda had a mardi gras pin on her purple top and fishnets under her black skirt. She brought virgin jello shots in for everyone, so we could celebrate.

Wednesday was a great day. I began by interviewing Zach Porter from Allstar Weekend. His band will be joining Selena Gomez and the Jonas Brothers for a concert in LA to benefit City of Hope in a couple of weeks. Watch http://www.sgvn.com/ for my story and more information.

In the evening I met Mike Davis and we headed out to Celestino's Ristorante in Pasadena to do a restaurant review. Mike is a chef (and the bassist for Halford and Dramarama) and will be doing some freelance writing for my newspapers and our Scene magazine. This time around we are working together on the story with his expert opinions on the food and restaurant and my "regular person" comments.

Our photographer was Walt Mancini, who is quite popular in Pasadena. It was funny because people who passed by our table, stopped to chat with him. Walt was quite the celebrity!

I really enjoyed Celestino's. The ambience was lively and happy and the food and wine were beyond yummy-wonderful. The most surprising dish for me was the sardine spaghetti. It sounds disgusting right? It smelled a tiny bit strong too. But it melted in my mouth with a mellow taste. I had taken a "Brownie spoonful" (it's a Girl Scout thing) to be polite and ended up cleaning my plate! Owner and chef Calogero Drago told me the sardine spaghetti is his most popular dish and I am not surprised. I recommend you try it if you go.

Also, if you need help with wine pairing or want the perfect meal from appetizer to dessert, ask your waiter and they'll be happy to help you.

Thursday I spoke with John of the local band Vise Virsa. They will be one of the many groups performing at the Altadena Community Music & Art Festival at Farnsdale Park in Altadena noon-9 p.m. March 26. I'll be there too, dancing with my swords to music provided by a cluster of drummers at 5:45 p.m. Come by and say hi~ it's free.

Before writing this, I was chatting with bluesman Barry "Big B" Brenner. He's such a nice guy and has an amazing repertoire of music, from old traditional blues to classic rock covers, as well as his own originals. He's at the Firefly in South Pasadena Thursday nights (there's a Farmer's Market in the street then too) and Sunday brunches. I've caught his performance and was thrilled by his guitar skills and pleasant voice. He also knows how to keep the volume and mood just right-- staying in the background for diners who want to chat, yet loud enough for music fans to engaged.

This weekend marks my first two days of classes for the Renaissance Faire in Irwindale. I will get a basic introduction and then begin learning the language and accent of the shire. It's kind of funny because my mother is an off-the-boat Brit and encouraged me to be a patriotic American while I was growing up and now I'm going to be English for a few months!

I also won't be near the computer to blog Monday- sorry! My special guy and I have plans for the day. But next week is promising, as I already have an interview with Michael Sweet of Stryper booked. Yes, the hair metal boys are back with a new album and tour and they're quite good.

In rotation: Joe Walla, Sundowners, Tim Curry, Tribe of Gypsies and Jeffrey Bayless.

Photos we got 'em: Just two cute doggies-- enjoy!

Thought o' the week: Be prepared. It sounds like the Boy Scout adage, but it is very important.

Last night, after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I was in bed trying to go to sleep while listening to the radio. I must have been up for hours, not because I'm drawn to tragedy, but because I was thinking about how the Japanese are much better equipped to deal with natural disasters than us Americans.

I began ticking things off in my head: Is there canned food and bottled water in my kitchen? Where are my tools, especially the special wrench to turn off the gas and water? Do I have water and a blanket in my car? Do my flashlights and radios need new batteries? And so on.

I am actually doing pretty well. I'm very organized and change batteries at Christmas time in my smoke detector and other things whether they need them or not. I have tools on a shelf in my kitchen. I have emergency stuff in my car. I also make a habit of buying a couple of extra cans of food whenever there's a sale, so I have overstock, as well as water. I rotate the food and water too, using some when I go camping and other places and buying new to replace it. There's many other things that come in handy in an emergency and it's not too hard to make a kit for your home and your car.

My heart goes out to the Japanese who have lost their lives, loved ones and homes from the disaster. But I am also inspired by them and how well they are handling everything. Are you prepared for a disaster? Take the next few days and make sure and

Keep on rockin'

Mickie