Sunday at The American Legion

The other day I received a text from a dear friend of mine whom I met during Karaoke Friday at Manny's and he was inviting me to go see him sing on Sunday as he would be performing at The American Legion in Glendale from 2:00 ~ 5:00 p.m.

I had not seen him and his family for well over a year so I was happy to oblige. I was glad I did, he sang three sets during that time and he did most of my own karaoke favorites. Yeah, ever since Manny's stopped karaoke my country music singing has been in the back burner as I have been mostly singing in Spanish at Noche de Bohemia, so it was definitely fun to sing along with him. I video taped a few of his performances but almost by instinct I probably did voice overs as I was singing along. lol He'll probably will love that... Not!

Here is my friend Steve singing and giving me a shout out.
He even told me that if we were to practice a couple of songs he would ask me up the stage to join him. Ha! He should know by now I don't practice, I just look for the lyrics in the screen and sing away. Je je je, you can just imagine the mess I make out of the songs I sing. Ummm I wonder if that's why he said "practice"?

Steve and I have actually done a duet. We sang "You make me feel brand new" by the Stylistics and we did more than OK. I do the manly voice and he does the high voice.

Thanks Steve for the invite, I had fun and will join you again elsewhere as you continue to get more gigs, I am truly happy you are making some money by doing something you love and that we actually did for free during karaoke. Keep up the good work and sing away.



Here Steve sings a song I used to sing a lot at Manny's. Of course I couldn't resist and had to sing along. lol

My Weekend in Cali

On our way to La Puente.
The weekend again just not enough time but at least long enough to achieve the goals and dreams of a new beginning. The way I see it we pretty much date every night only thing is I am in Arizona and she is in California but we are making it work, thus the saying "Where there's a will there's a way".

My daughter and I got there with plenty of daylight, that was strange as we always get there when it's dark. My lil sister once again busted the kitchen utensils out and cooked us a mean fish, ummmmm good.

Then it was shower time and get ready for a night of dancing, karaoke, and fun, and since we get in celebration mood some got a little too tipsy but I'll be nice enough not to mention any names je je je.

Saturday was nice too as I got to meet her parents. Actually I had meet her dad three weeks ago but met her mom this past weekend and if I am hearing this correctly I passed the test and I think they approve, yey for me. It was her dad's birthday too so they were all busy cooking carne asada and pollo al carbon, ummmm all good and tasty, then all the wonderful side dishes and I winded up so full.

Best friends.
Sunday we were invited to yet another birthday party with more food that I could handle and drinks too. Luckily I had my designated driver whom drove the first four hours of our trip back to Phoenix.

All in all, the weekend was a total success. And it seems that for now we will have to repeat this at least once a month, I for one am willing to travel as many times as needed, but eventually we will have to narrow that gap big time.


My daughter and her cousins took advantage of the nice weather and went to the beach. Although I was still to windy and cold.

My daugher and my niece with me.

And so it was Friday and of course we can't eat meat, no problem my little sister had just the place to take me to. She took me to Senor Baja where they had the best and I am not exaggerating fish and shrimp tacos. Man, they were tasty and pretty filling.

Me, waiting for my fish tacos.
After eating we went back to her house where the car needed to be cleaned and put away for the rest of the day and Saturday, and then drafted her car to be the car to commute all over town. Ja ja she said "When did we decide that?" little sister I am after all the older brother and I call the shots just so you know. lol

After cleaning the car we sang for a bit and then she started cooking, not for that day mind you as she was cooking meat but for the next day. It was torture because she cooks good and I am a meat eater by nature and the aromas coming from that kitchen were killing me.

She drove an hour and a half in traffic to be my date. I like her! :-)
Dancing.
We then got ready to go out to karaoke and that's when the real fun began. We stopped to pick up this PYT I had asked to be my date and we got to Casa Cabral fairly early. We sang and danced the night away and it was all pure fun. The people there treat me pretty nice every time I go there and make me want to keep going back.

Singing.
And just plain ol' having fun!

My lil sister and I still got it after all these years.
The place is supposed to close at two but after we stopped singing and dancing the owner and some friends remained at their table so we remained at ours and they kept the music going, it wasn't until a bit past three that we left but not for home but for a taco place. We were all starving for tacos. We finally got home at around 5:00 a.m. and we were supposed to be ready by 9:00 a.m. for Knott's yeah right! Good luck on that one.

Ummm tacos, que rico! Attack!

Rafa.
The girls.

Weekend in Cali... Part II

Friday was spent mostly at my sister's house because she had a job interview (pray she gets the job) so I did a little blogging and rested from the night before. When she finally came back we got ready and left for the City of Monrovia where every Friday night on Myrtle street they have a fair and many vendors sell their products. The restaurants are plenty busy and many of them with live entertainment, from a single guy playing his guitar to a full four and five member band.

The Heart of the Community

Monrovia's Old Town is the heart of the community.

It's where Monrovia began. It's where Monrovia gathers today for civic events, for parades and for the Family Festival street fair and farmer's market...

Every Friday night, from March through to Christmas, thousands of residents and visitors alike mingle at the largest street fair of its kind in the state, with craft and food booths, kiddie rides, a certified farmer's market, live music and more.

Old Town is where the entire region comes for shopping, dining and entertainment in a unique atmosphere.

Myrtle Avenue's shops and restaurants, it's 12-screen movie palace and its small-town ambiance, combined with plenty of free parking, draw shoppers and diners alike. But small businesses thrive above the shops as well, and people live in condos and flats within Old Town, making it a living community, a safe and people-friendly neighborhood.

It was easy to spend some time there and it would have been easier to spend some money too if I had taken any. So many un-needed that I would like to have just for the heck of having them. Yep! Smartest thing to do when you go to places like this is to unload yourself of money before you go. Je, je, je, that could also be called being cheap.



















Lions and tigers and Joe Cools oh my! We came to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Monrovia

As usual the picture snapping was more than enough for me, and with the night being a bit on the cold side it felt good walking around with the jacket zipped all the way up.



















Coolest hats/scarfs if you ask me.
My tocayo Fidel and I.


Scenes from Myrtle street's fair.
A couple of hours later we headed towards The City of Commerce where we met Lucio, Rafa, and the rest of Chely's gang at the restaurant Casa Cabral for some more karaoke. The night went pretty good and as always we had a blast but note to self, DO NOT share your tequila with your light weight sister, enough said. :)

Be smart, just say NO!
Lucio.
Rafa.
Chely y Ana.
My little sister and I.
For the second night in a row we stayed up late or should I say early as we finally came back to my sister's house at 3:00 a.m. in the morning.

Weekend in Cali... Part I

But... Can I rest first?

My little sister and I.
So I am driving down I-10 with the cruise control set at 82 mph and I see some lights approaching fast, I expected a fast European or similar car to pass me instead a freaking Yaris passes me doing like 90 something miles per hour.

Still on the same highway, a different set of lights approach fast, this time it has got to be a Beemer, or Mercedes cause it's coming fast and then, a beat up first generation Chrysler mini van passes me doing nearly a hundred miles per hour, what the heck? Fools starting to make me feel like the slow poke of the road. So on a WTF kindda moment I disengaged the cruise control and just lightly tapped on that gas pedal under my foot and in no time my pony was for the first time seeing the road blur pass it. Yep, it is decidedly fast. Needless to say I left Phoenix at 15 minutes to 5:00 pm and got to La Puente at 9:00 pm, but don't panic I did not become the speed racer of the road, its just that California is an hour behind us.

Almost two hours away from my destination I get a phone call, it's my sister asking where I am? "I just passed Morongo" I told her. Hurry up cause Lucio just called and we are going out. So I got to La Puente and my niece was already waiting for me with a coffee (well almost) and after like a whole minute rest and a dog massage we were ready to hit the town.

When in need of a massage I even hire the dog to do it.
A car honked and we knew our ride was here, the horn had that European sound to it and sure enough a nice shinny white Jaguar S-type was parked in front of my sister's house. Oh wow, "You had me at hello". No I would not trade my ponies for a cat but I would gladly add one of these to my garage.

Picked up in a Jaguar complete with chauffer. What a life!!!

In no time we were in the City of Downey at a restaurant called La Perla del Mar. They had karaoke of course which is why we went there to begin with. After a few beers I felt I was singing good which is too much to say as most of the singers there were very, very good. No amateur night here, almost all the guys and girls there really belted the songs out sounding very good.

Singing at La Perla.

We left the place at closing time and then headed to put some gas. A Norm's restaurant was across the street and all of a sudden everybody decided that they were hungry... Eh-Q-me weren't we just at a restaurant. lol

Eh-Q-me! I was demoted to pumping gas. The nerve!
Finally got to my sister's house at 5:00 am. I went to bed and not even 5 minutes later my phone's wake up alarm goes off. My sister comes out of the room and asks, "What is that?", Oh it's just my alarm waking me up to tell me it's time for me to get up and go to work.

Ana, Lucio, and Chely.
Chely and Ana.

See Ya Later Friend

One of our karaoke buddies a "snow bird" is going back to his Washington home and to say goodbye, farewell and bon voyage a going away party was organized for him. Going to the place destined for this party has the same route as going to Manny's but instead of turning left into Manny's parking lot I turned right on El Mirage road to the destination and it felt weird because I have been going to Manny's mostly every Friday since September and it has been lots of fun. Until karaoke resumes again next September I will have to find alternate things to do, however for this past Friday that task was easily taken care of as we had a nice get together complete with hot dogs, chips, a plethora of sodas and deserts and plenty of karaoke.

This is the second time I go to this couple's house and I had been told their computer held thousands and thousands of songs to sing. Well last night I found out they were not lying. I asked if their files would contain some Latin sounds, my friend just gave me an empty stare and said, "give me a name", "Luis Miguel" I replied it's spelled L U I S and before I knew it bam! A bunch of Luis Miguel's songs came out. It is safe to assume we had lots of fun singing.

A funny thing though, was the fact that they could not find a karaoke version of the Happy Birthday song to sing to one of the ladies there whom will be turning 79 years young tomorrow Sunday. So... we decided to sing it a capella.

We had a blast, the nice thing about it was that the rotation list was not too long and we all did what we love to do, we sang our little hearts out.

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Karaoke Goes on Hiatus

Finally today I made it to karaoke at Manny's which was in a way kindda bitter sweet because today was the last day as summer has let us know it's here and the patio just gets too hot. I hear it will resume back in September when the heat is gone.

For one reason or another I had not been able to go the past two Fridays so today I got even. Even with the big group on hand I was still able to squeeze five songs. I made new fans, new friends, and new attempts at singing songs I had not sang yet. Even though it was hot it wasn't uncomfortably hot. Since I'm not drinking (doctor's orders) I only had a couple of diet cokes and nibbled on some tortilla chips and salsa.

Our core group is there every Friday and I know that they all look forward to karaoke night. Most of them are the coolest senior citizens you'll ever meet. I, at almost 50 years of age feel like the new kid in town. One of said group members is moving back east to Washington or some place like that and so next week there will be a gathering to bid him farewell. Yes some karaoke will be involved, because well that's how we roll.

Well it's all good because maybe now I participate in some of the car club's activities. There's a third Friday outing every month where the club reserves a portion of a dinner's parking lot and while our ponies are on display we get to eat and socialize. Since this year marks my tenth anniversary as a member I want to be a little more active.

Whatever I decide to do I am sure I'll be posting about it so keep coming back.

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Tidbit Time

When I bought my car back in 1990 my gas tank used to fill up with about $14.00 then gradually gas prices increased but it was still not too bad considering my Mustang has a 5.0 V8 engine under the hood. Then last year the gas prices sky rocketed and my small gas tank took as much as $42.00 on a couple of occasions. That pretty much meant $168.00 a month in gas and that only covers Monday through Friday.

Well for the past few months I fill up my tank and the receipt total is usually between $16.00 and $17.50 now those are prices I can live with. How much longer this low prices will stay? When we used to have the Expedition it was nearly $80.00 to fill it up. How much is your tank taking these days?

I have to wonder how many people are not working these days, judging by the morning traffic which has been very light it doesn't look too good. Man I do wish and hope things turn around soon, even a small turn for the better will be welcomed. Pray people we need to get back to whatever our "normal" used to be.

So, I did not go karaoke last week so I guess tonight that's what I'm doing. It is getting hot in Phoenix and since karaoke is out in the restaurant's patio they stop it until the heat is gone. This week we already had three days of over 100 degrees, I believe today we were supposed to be at 105. That my far away friends is HOT! Then for tomorrow we have my niece's birthday that should be fun as well as productive because some of the pictures and frames ordered last week will involve portraits and we are supposed to see them tomorrow. Sounds like fun huh.

Prison break, why did they move it from Monday to Friday? Well, thanks to my DVR because it has been doing a great job at recording it. Will this be the final season?

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Karaoke, a Birthday, and a Car Show

The weeks just fly by too fast which in turn is a contradiction as my days are so slow at work that they seem to take forever, yet here we are, planning another weekend. I may just start things off tonight with going out to Manny's for karaoke and a soda, yep as per doctor's instructions no alcohol will be going into this handsome little body. So, I don't know what kind of patron I will be to the place but I'll make it up as I go. Chips 'n' Salsa and a drink, ummmm big spender ain't I?

You know I'll be hitting the big 5-0 in a few months but when I go to Manny's I'm still one of the young ones there. The karaoke crowd is mostly older people which are really appreciative when listening to others sing, reason enough for me to feel comfortable there. I have been able to sing a lot of different songs without being afraid of messing up or sounding bad. I have repeated a few here and there but I try to keep it fresh. However, my karaoke buddies there insist on singing the same songs every single week, all they do is alter the order that they sing then in. I still think it's too cute and I for one don't mind it either.


Diego and grandpa on a karaoke session at home.

Today is Diego's birthday and tomorrow he gets his party. He is turning 6 and is totally excited about it. Wasn't it just the other that I got news I was going to be a grandpa. Again, how fast time flies. I will have to make some noise tonight and be with him tomorrow in the morning because in the afternoon I will be going to our Spring Car Show. The Copperstate Mustang Club which I have been a member of for 10 years now will host our annual spring show under the lights. The show will take place at our sponsor Ford dealership Berge Ford in the city of Mesa.





This is my pony. A '93 Vert.

I have no chance of placing since my car has been my daily driver for the past 10 years but it will be fun to see how it fairs. I am counting on my son in law to take it to work tonight and clean it up so that it is as presentable as it can be tomorrow.

I'll let you know how things went on another post soon. In the meantime I wish you all a great weekend.

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Stimulating the economy

Yey, it's Friday and I will be going to my favorite karaoke hangout tonight. I figure a couple of drinks and some food will inject some revenue into Manny's. These days every dollar counts. Should be lots of fun, the Phoenix/Avondale weather can't be better and the music that is going on in my head is dying to come out. So... with that in mind and with not much happening in our lives I live you with another song I did some time ago.





Why did I sing this song? I really DON'T KNOW WHY. -- LOL

OK, so Norah Jones I'm not, but hey I really like this Spanish version so I had to do it. Tomorrow a couple I met at Manny's is hosting a karaoke party at their house. Should be another good time and coming up on Sunday it's my son and his lovely wife's House Warming Party.

I hope you too have a great weekend planned.

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Pieces and Bits

Not nice, I spent an hour and a half on the freeway this morning while going to work. There were accidents all over it. So after all was said and done I was only 45 minutes late to work. Did I say only?

Well, it seems that my new template is being well received by all of you out there. I discovered that some computers will make the side bar drop all the way down and will start displaying it after the last post. I had seen blogs like this before, I believe that happens due to the kind of browser in the computer. In most computers it looks fine and it's actually pretty awesome. Again, thank you Nikki.

Another thing I won't do here is post small pictures much, they do not align the way I want them to so I'll stick to medium and large size only. I may use small ones only a the beginning of a paragraph and only one at a time.

So, no American Idol today. Fear not, it will be back tomorrow. Tonight we watch what the President has to say. We are living in very scary times and we need a doze of good news and good actions. It seems things are moving along and we continue to survive the carnage of this economic crisis. Man I tell you, everybody is out to collect the dollars you may owe them. I guess businesses out there feel it's better tho have some money than no money. I don't know how many of you out there are praying people or believe in prayer but realize that we have to start all pitching in somehow help each other and accept that we may be needing some divine intervention too, so praying won't do any harm and may not be such a bad idea after all.




Have you picked your favorites yet?


It seems most of my shows have either ended or are on a long hiatus. That just suits me fine as it will give me more time to start singing on line again. I am setting up my system and I am even working on a live broadcast. So, stay tuned for more updates on this. Oh and did I mention karaoke is back at Manny's. I hear it won't stop until the weather gets too hot. So for now, we sing.


Diego and I on a jamming session.


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