Sorry about the poor quality, but no photos were allowed, so I had to quickly grab this one with my phone. We are out in Mesa again just ten days after our last concert, this time to see the Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile.
My Polite Birthday
Today is my 52nd birthday, but that’s not me in the photo. Caroline has been delivered to the AZ Desert Weavers and Spinners Guild meeting that happens on the first Saturday of the month outside of summer. Today’s presentation is held by Gasali Adeyemo from Nigeria. He is a master indigo dyer and an expert in adire eleko, which is a type of tie-dye technique cultivated by the Yoruba in Nigeria. With her at the meeting and me not paying attention to work today, I’m free to head to a coffee shop and enjoy some John time.
Later in the day, but not too late, we are at Dominic’s Steakhouse in Scottsdale; as much for dinner as this birthday serving of butter cake, the all-important skillet of whipped cream is just behind it.
We are closing out the day in Mesa for a concert by Arlo Guthrie, performing the 50th anniversary of Alice’s Restaurant, which is being retired after this tour.
Happy Birthday Fucker
This begs the question, does my staff know my sense of humor, or are they signaling me?
Farm Dinner
Caroline and I attended Tonopah Rob’s farm dinner fundraiser which was catered by a local chef focusing tonight’s menu on food from the farm. Live entertainment and a slightly cantankerous John were on hand. Why the tension, John? I’m a workaholic and find it nearly impossible to pull away from work. It’s a bad habit, but I don’t know of any other way.
Donald Johanson
This evening, Caroline and I attended a talk from Donald Johanson. Back in 1974, he discovered fossilized bones from a theretofore unknown hominid and named it Lucy after the famous Beatles song, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” His discovery of Australopithecus afarensis put him in the record books and placed him high on the list of nerd achievement levels Caroline and I have now accumulated by meeting the man face-to-face.
Origins – Svante Pääbo
We are at Gammage Theater on ASU’s campus for another Origins talk hosted by Lawrence Krauss. On the bill are Diane Ackerman (naturalist), Ian Tattersall (paleoanthropologist), Michael Crow (president of ASU), Lindy Elkins-Tanton (planetary scientist), Neil Gershenfeld (computer scientist), and the star of the evening Svante Pääbo who deciphered the Neanderthal genome.