What's everyone up to right now?

[Little lunch]

I've hit two weeks with my new no sugar, no bread, no milk, no processed food diet and I only fucked up twice.
Once on Saturday when I took my daughter to the movies and ate buttered popcorn and once four or five days ago when I ate some chocolate cake at a client's house. (They left the cake sitting out with a knife next to it and I stole a piece when no-one was looking, I'm so ashamed.)
I've had times where I've been so desperate for a sugar fix, it's comparable to giving up smoking.
But I feel so much healthier, I've lost weight, my skin's looking better, I'm sleeping better, I'm trying new foods, I'm learning more about healthy foods in my search for non-bland meals to cook, I have more energy and apart from always feeling hungry, I have a real sense of wellbeing all the time.

[Angrboda]

Trying out AccuRadio on my Roku. Just got back from shopping and the library.

[Crossless2.0]

I just tallied my work mileage and overtime from this past week: 1,420 miles and 41 hours and still another week to go before payday. This check will be healthy and robust.

Me? Not so much.

[Rev. Rye]

Getting ready for Ravinia. We got tickets to see Femi Kuti and Anjelique Kidjo take on Remain in Light, bringing it all full citcle (the Talking Heads based that album around one of Kuti's father Fela's albums.) And due to an offer from Ravinia (adjusting for inclement weather), we managed to get our tickets upgraded to Pavilion seats.

[Rev. Rye]

Getting ready for Ravinia. We got tickets to see Femi Kuti and Anjelique Kidjo take on Remain in Light, bringing it all full citcle (the Talking Heads based that album around one of Kuti's father Fela's albums.) And due to an offer from Ravinia (adjusting for inclement weather), we managed to get our tickets upgraded to Pavilion seats.

Okay, having watched it, I have to say, the concert at Ravinia was excellent. That said, it wasn't exactly full circle (or even full citcle), because the Remain in Light part of the show was in the Angelique Kidjo half of the show. When I listed it as a show I wanted to go to, I did not know that. However, after adjusting for it, I enjoyed it.

Some of the highlights of the show:

• I was sitting behind a black kid who kept looking back, sullen as Dad and I started grooving. My initial guess was that he was just being dragged into this show and not getting into it at all. Then it turned out he was just looking for his Dad, and he actually used to live near Femi himself. 
  
• During Femi Kuti's first song, he played a single E flat for about two minutes on his Alto sax. No joke, I pulled out my phone and opened up one of my tuner apps to confirm which pitch it was.
  
• Femi Kuti also wrote this song that I think a lot of us might like:
  
  
  
  "They use religion and the word of God to do their bad bad things" indeed.
  
• Femi's "Thank You" sounds very much like "Fuck You."
  
• A woman behind us kept ululating after every song in lieu of applause. I can only assume it's a common African custom. Wikipedia, and my memories of the ending of Battle of Algiers (though that's in a very different part of Africa) seems to confirm this.
  
• The guitarist for Anjelique Kidjo, either by an extraordinary coincidence or by research, seemed to have latched onto a Strat and JC-120, which is pretty much the same rig David Byrne used for Stop Making Sense. Then again, one of the most popular guitars in the world, and an amp that ALL African players use (if Vieux Farka Toure is right about it) might just be a happy coincidence.
  
• Midway through Anjelique's set, she introduced a song by saying that if you didn't know it, you haven't been living on Planet Earth. I listened to it, and midway through, I asked Dad where he parked the spaceship.
  
  
  
  
• It's strange hearing "Once in a Lifetime" with a proper melody for the verses. Maybe there's some Beninese priestesses who perform like that, making it a perfect cultural approximation of the radio preacher David Byrne was emulating.
  
  
  
  
• Seeing her dancing in the aisles at one point, I was struck by one thing: she is really short. She sounds like a powerhouse, but it looked like she was about 5 foot nothing.
  

[Joods]

Sitting around with a friend I haven't seen in over a year.

[Angrboda]

Waiting out the rain delay in the Twins / Indians game.

[The Valkyrie]

Looking out across the harbour from my office window watching the weather turn to crap!

[Silver]

Looking out across the harbour from my office window watching the weather turn to crap!

The sun is making an appearance?

[The Valkyrie]

Looking out across the harbour from my office window watching the weather turn to crap!

The sun is making an appearance?

No.

The sun is disappearing behind grey clouds and the wind is getting strong.