“Do you mind if we get sappy on you?” singer Chris Daughtry asked the 6,000-plus fans who showed up last Saturday to hear him perform at Paso Robles’s Mid-State Fair. The band had already ripped through six rocking tunes before slowing the pace a bit with the love song “What About Now.”
Beneath a dim barroom light, Jon Styles walks onto the makeshift stage and takes the microphone. As the singer eases into Live’s 1994 hit “I Alone,” the crowd hoots and hollers with approval. “It’s easier not to be wise/You measure these things by your brains,” he begins with restrained intensity before unleashing the howling chorus. It’s Friday night and karaoke at the Tiburon Tavern is one of the hottest tickets in town, thanks, in great part, to Styles, an extraordinary singer who delivers performances you’d expect to hear at the S.B. Bowl rather than at a neighborhood bar on upper State Street.
Although I studied French for six years during high school and college, I never became very good at it. Then I went to France for two months and my language skills improved; I could say important stuff like “O¹ est la boulangerie?” and “Je viens des tats-Unis.” Not scintillating conversation, but it got me around.
Ilike looking at tide pools and watching the little critters within carry on about their business; it’s one of my favorite things about being a coastal dweller. I can even name a few of the inhabitants in the tiny watery worlds-sea urchins, teeny fishes, and itty-bitty crabs.
Two years ago, while cooing over a friend’s baby, the new mom told me the best recent addition to their household-aside from the wee one-was an air purifier. “It’s amazing,” she said.
Shepherd’s pie is a delicious Irish tradition, and managing editor Michelle Drown’s mom makes the best pie around.
Dogsare a traveling species, and as such a daily walk with your canine is important for maintaining his or her well-being-and yours. To help in that endeavor, Mountaineers Books recently published Best Hikes with Dogs: Southern California, by Allen Riedel, which offers myriad treks for you and your pooch to explore-from the Central Coast to San Diego.
The snow fell steadily, quickly covering the streets and sidewalks in a blanket of white. Snow storms are uncommon in Vancouver, the locals told us, but the weather had been unusually harsh for the past few months-high winds, heavy rains, and the white stuff-thanks to global warming. Or so Vancouverites deduced.
It was seven years ago when I first heard progressive bluegrass band Nickel Creek. They were touring with Glen Phillips and I caught their show at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco. Since then, Nickel Creek, which includes Chris Thile (mandolin) and the Watkins siblings-Sara (fiddle) and Sean (acoustic guitar)-has been nominated for and won several Grammy awards and Phillips has released two critically acclaimed albums, Winter Pays for Summer and Mr. Lemons.
One of the hardest challenges in the barrista circuit, the white chocolate mocha is heavenly when perfect. Lucky for Michelle Drown, she finally found her gold at Savoy Truffles on Figueroa Street.
