Hollywood: Mamma Mia

Two days after Thanksgiving, the Chesslers participated in a ongoing cultural phenom - the transfer of a Swedish rock band's lyrics to a mythical Greek isle inhabited by an American expat. Who knew it could work so well? Yes, a hit since 1999. We saw it at the world-famous Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. Built during the depression, the Pantages is a work of art. And I'm pleased to report that there was not an empty seat in the house. Perhaps, because it was Thanksgiving weekend?

And what is not to love about Abba songs? Mix them in with some humor and physical comedy and a mystery (who of three men fathered Sophie? quite a premise) and you've got yourself a multigenerational hit (though Benjamin seemed only mildy amused.) But the songs and the plot, what there is of it, holds up well in my humble opinion. And at the end, you get to stand up for 10 minutes right after the curtain call and listen to even more kick-ass Abba songs. I think the woman in front of me was weeping tears of joy at that point. One thing I can say, it was 100% better than the movie with Meryl Streep, where Pierce Brosnan sounded like a braying donkey.

San Diego's Balboa Park - Timken v. ComicCon Museum

Balboa Park, the jewel of San Diego, has over a dozen museums. Today we saw the newest (Comic Con Museum, opened 2021) and a mid-century classic, the Timken (opened 1965). The Timken, filled with treasures from the Putnam family, has a Rubens, a Van Dyck, a Brueghel, and even a Rembrandt. Comic Con has a time capsule of 1983, when (gasp), no one had smart phones. Timken is free (though donations appreciated); Comic Con charges $25 per adult. Comic Con is fun, but Timken is a must see. What bridges these two museums? Kehinde Wiley. If you haven't heard of him, he's the artist who painted Barak Obama's presidential portrait. Here he bridges the gap between the 17th Century and the 21st century using a technique he calls "street casting." Above he's reinterpreted Anthony Van Dyck's (1599-1641) portrait of Italian military leader Tommaso Francesco. I'm a big fan. (See previous post on SF MOMA for another work of art by Wiley.)

But back to 1983 and that display at Comic Con Museum. Yes, I was alive back then. I don't remember it being a bad time, but apparently, life was hard. Why? No smartphone. You had to order from print catalogs. You had to use rolodexes and maps (that tore because they were made of PAPER). You called people on a phone attached to a wall. You watched schmaltzy ads on a tiny TV, and you couldn't fast forward them. At least it was a color TV. It was eye opening to learn how deprived my younger years were. Luckily, I escaped posting something stupid on social media that would haunt me for the rest of my life, so there is that.

What else at Comic Con? Well, they have a makerspace where you can make your own comic book. They have massive cardboard statues of cartoon characters, made by two young brothers . (Really, remarkable, see above of Groot.) There is a Stan Lee exhibit.

And there is the worl'ds first 3D printed car, the Strati. My car has 20,000 parts, the Strati has 40. The Strati took 44 hours to print, two days to assemble, and is fully electric. That's cool. I don't mind telling you I gave it a good tap and it does seem very solid.

We also did some green screen photography, though poorly. Here you can see us in the Popnology exhibit, overwhelmed by the future of technology. If it gets to be too much, there is always the Timken.

Mom turns 90!

It's not every day that a person turns 90. So with a Happy 90 card in hand (yes, they are available at Target!), I flew up to an unusually sunny Pacific Northwest to celebrate the event with my siblings and many of the grandkids.

The day my mom was born, on November 17, 1933, FDR was president, and the Marx Brother's Duck Soup classic madcap comedy had just premiered. Born during the Great Depression, she lived through WWII air raids in her home town of Pittsburgh, went to college at a time when men outnumbered women ten to one on campus, and was one of the first Americans to receive the polio vaccine. Her favorite president? Harry Truman. The most life transforming invention in her lifetime, in her opinion? The washing machine. A long life, well lived. Happy birthday Mom, and many more.

Ketchum, Idaho: BIG SHEEP PARADE

It's spelled with capitals, because the BIG SHEEP PARADE is a big deal. Today, October 8, 2023, my friends and I saw 1,200 sheep walk through downtown Ketchum, ID, followed by three excited sheepdogs and many equally excited two-legged humans. It was the send off event of the 27-year old Trailing of the Sheep Festival. Started by local ranchers John and Diane Peavey to educate the public and also preserve dwindling sheep pasture, the festival is now attended on average by 25,000 visitors and is considered one of the best fall festivals in the world.

Before the parade my friend Leslie and I attended a Q&A with famous local ranchers John and Tom Peavey and former Ketchum Mayor Jerry Seiffert. While our friend Kathy tried to warm a cold bench on the parade route, we educated ourselves on the sheep industry in Idaho. Now there are only 210,000 sheep in Wood River Valley, but at one time it replaced silver mining as the big employer in the valley, with millions of sheep. In the early 1900s, more sheep shipped out of Ketchum than anywhere in the United States. (See Life on the Range for the full story of John Peavey and his ranching history.)

Here are some other facts: you need 900 sheep to form a "band." (In a previous post our dinner mates said they had "just a few" sheep (e.g. 30) and I thought that was not "a few" but a whole lot. I now stand corrected.) A good guard dog (aka sheepdog) is worth $3,500 and will defend its herd to the death. A guard dog is classified as livestock, and is only barely domesticated. According to the Peaveys, sheep can mitigate the risk of forest fire by eating grass that could catch fire. And only a foolish rancher overgrazes the land.

Wool brings in enough cash to make it worth the shearing, which is done every spring. The Peaveys have bred their sheep to arrive at a wool micron count of 19. Anything below 20 is considered the finest of wool. (A search of Google informs me that a micron is the measurement of the diameter of a wool fibre. Merino wool is the finest and usually measures between 15 and 25 microns but can be finer still. . Generally, wool begins to feel itchy above 22 microns.)

Hailey, Idaho: sheep dog trials, Folklife Fair, sheep shearing

I know the phrase "like herding cats" but how about "like herding sheep"? Today, on Buttercup Road in Hailey, Idaho, I watched sheepdog trials and learned that not all sheep are so willing to follow the leader. A sheepdog handler has ten minutes to instruct their sheepdog to round up four sheep, lead them through three gates and into a holding pen. Ten minutes seems like a long time, and the first sheepdog, Ben, got them almost all the way into that pen before time was up. Shoot, I thought, nothing to this.

Then I watched two more contestants. The next sheepdog had rowdy ewes who would not behave, scattering in the field. After 8 minutes, the handler had to forfeit, and extra shepherds and sheepdogs entered the field to coax the miscreants back to other side of the field. The next sheepdog, Bobby Blue, made more progress, but couldn't get them into the pen. The sheepdogs, all Australian shepherd breeds, were smart and fierce. They crouched if the sheep got flustered, backed off if needed, and never let up. A great show; catch it if you are ever in sheep country.

Next we visited the Folklife Fair, also in Hailey. Here were craft booths containing every type of wool art you can think of - felted gnomes and pumpkins, purses, hats, sweaters, rugs, blankets, more. Of particular interest were the spectacular multi-eyed wool wall art. You see Kathy examining this art above. The food served in the food trucks? Lamb of course. (We had lamb gyros and a local beer.)

Whilst eating and shopping we were enterrtained first by Basque dancers (the Basque were the original sheepherders in valley). That was followed by the Scottish dancers and bagpipers (Scots were among the early settlers in Idaho), and then the Peruvian dancers (Peruvian immigrants have largeley replaced the Basque shepherds).

And of course, we couldn't miss the sheep shearing demonstration. Here we see a professional sheep shearer. He claims to be faster than any machine, shearing up to 40 ewes in an hour (the rams can take an hour all by themselves). He has his own shearing trailer. The sheep enter into the trailer on a ramp, get a haircut, and exit out the side. He shaves off the fleece in one continuous sheet, all in about five minutes. Two ladies in the audience felt sorry for the poor ewe, but I thought it far better than a trip to the dentist. And within two weeks, the shorn sheep will have a centimeter of new fleece.

We also treated ourselves to Basque rum cake (see pic above), vintage Norwegian sweaters, and (for me), slippers from the Bag Ladies of Sequim, WA.

We also stopped off at the Grange Hall to help weave a community "Mother Tree" using thick hand-dyed wool yarn. Doris Florig, a fiber artist, was our instructor. We worked on the trunk (as best we could). Tomorrow we will enjoy the end of the Trailing of the Sheep Festival with Sheephearing Stories and a BIG SHEEP PARADE. Stay tuned...

Ketchum, Idaho: Fox Creek Trail, Smiley Creek Lodge

How hard is it to find Forest Road 020 off Highway 75? Harder than you would think. Today we elected to do an easy hike just north of Ketchum, and after some GPS challenges, we were treated to a two mile hike on Fox Creek trail that shows off the varied vegetation and foothills of East Idaho. One mountain can be covered in pines; the next only in sage.

Aspens wearing their fall color of yellow were everywhere, including one with a potential "arborglyph," sheepherder tree carvings, which my 2023 Trailing of the Sheep Festival handbook tells me is a disappearing western art form. While sheepherders do pass by the Fox Creek Trail, I suspect this may just be the handiwork of a lovelorn teen.

After our hike, and getting a little hungry, we took a drive to Galena Summit to eat at a lodge there. At about 8,000 feet, it had a sprinkling of snow. In the distance were the Sawtooth Mountain range. The Sawtooth range covers four counties and 678 square miles. And yes, its peaks do resemble the teeth of a saw. But our first lodge at Galena was closed, so we continued on to the delightful Smiley Creek Lodge. quon

Smiley Creek Lodge has everything the adventurer might need - ebikes, paddleboards, snowmobiles, a cafe, restaurant, bar, yurts, cabins, and now luxury tiny homes. All of this at the base of the Sawtooth mountains and alpine lakes.

As the restaurant was closed, we elected to enjoy a "liquid lunch" with Manny's local beer on Smiley's outdoor patio, near the chainsaw bear sculptures.

We also viewed a few of the luxury tiny homes, with views to die for. Book now!

Hailey, Idaho: sheep and buffalo horns

I'm visiting friends from graduate school this week. Our location? East Idaho, home of Sun Valley, Ketchum, and Hailey. For the past 27 years, Hailey and Ketchum have been hosting The Trailing of the Sheep Festival, which ends with the herding of hundreds of sheep down the main street of Hailey. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

AFter a 160 mile drive from Boise, we arrived in Hailey feeling a little peckish and in need of nourishment. After an outstanding Thai lunch, we were ready to explore Hailey, birthplace of the poet Ezra Pound, residence of Ernest Hemingway, and former home of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

Our first stop was the Blaine County Historical Museum which has been preserving local history since 1964.

Here I learned more about mining,the first switchboard in Idaho, the aforementioned Ezra Pound (proud to be have been born in Idaho, but spent most of his adult life in Europe), and the buffalo horn chair you see above. This buffalo horn chair was made by James Kinney as he came across the plains from Indiana to Idaho in 1868. It's not something you see everyday.

Later that night we attended a Farm to Table dinner held in a suprisingly luxurious humane society building, nestled in a valley between arid foothills. All the food was locally sourced and delicious. The main entree? Lamb. The lamb was raised nearby at the Peavey ranch, which has been in operation for five generations. We sat across from the director of the festival, and matriarch Diane Peavey came by personally to greet us. On our other side was a family with "just a few sheep." How many sheep, my friend Leslie inquired. "Oh, just thirty ewes."

Snohomish, WA: Maddy & Shane get hitched!

Last year, Maddy's twin sister Ronnie married Jordan. This year, it was Maddy's turn. Equally creative as her sister and Jordan, Madeline and Shane made the wedding their own.

Pastels were the theme, and all the fun took place under a massive white tent, dripping with balloons and fabric flowers. The tables were lined with homemade paper mache vases filled with dahlias and other flowers picked in the wedding party's yards. The bride and groom were married in a suit and dress handmade by my sister Cindy. The officiant was Shane's brother-in-law, who kept it short and funny, but meaningful.

Our extended family was at Table 5, enjoying local beer and wine and a taco buffet.

We were also delighted with the photo booth, hand built by Shane with awesome lighting effects (Shane is an electrician by trade). We piled in and smiled.

We were also treated to a wall of art, gifts from artist friends of Maddy and Shane, celebrating the couple. A few are posted here for your viewing delight. All weddings should this be creative and delightful. Congratulations to my neice Maddy and her new husband.