A Trip to the Getty and a Birthday

Sunday was the last day of the last weekend before the start of the 2011 Rio Mesa H.S. season with two-a-day practices scheduled to commence this coming Thursday.

Cuba Photography Exhibit

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles had a special exhibit of photographs from Cuba that traced back to the classic photos of Havana that legendary American photograper Walker Evans in the 1930s and on up to current day shots. The Getty started the exhibit on May 17th and we had really wanted to go but life kept getting in the way. Since the exhibit was due to close on October 2nd, we figured that this was really our last chance to see it because of our football commitments.

Laurie, Vanessa and Mike

at the new Getty Museum

Of course, no photos of the photos were allowed but it was indeed a marvelous exhibit. While the exhibit took up most of our morning, the big deal of the day was a family get together at L.A.'s historic San Antonio Winery for a celebration of my mother's 87th birthday!

My serene aunt Katie and the singers, a.k.a.,

my sister Marilyn and Laurie

The people at the next table seemed to enjoy their accompaniment of the keyboard player's hits of the 70s selections!

They went on and on and on and . . .

Mike, me, my mom Chuny and

my sister Linda

A little food, a little vino and

LOTS of laughs!!!

My Mom and Dad first ate at the San Antonio Winery, which is located near my Dad's office, after work in the late 1940s! The Winery was already an East L.A. institution by then having been founded in 1917.

Did I say a LITTLE vino?

That's a LOT of gallons!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

GOOD TIMES INDEED!!!

The Summer Reading List (continued)

"August Heat" is another quick, fun read about Sicily's favorite fictional policeman, Inspector Salvo Montalbano.

Lot's of quirky Sicilian anecdotes which brought back lots of fond memories of our time there. This is the second Montalbano book I've read this Summer and I really enjoy Camilleri's writing style.

On a much more serious note, I finished reading Roberto Saviano's "Gomorrah" this week as well. This is a very sobering book about the inner workings and violence, dare I say bloodbath, of the Camorra, the Mafia of Naples. From Saviano's accounts the Camorra, apparently, far outstrips their more famous cousins in Sicily in brutality for brutality's sake.

Fascinating.

As football starts, I hope that it does not come down to this.